Times Change EDITED
by Simpa007
Summary: NEW AND EDITED.  Addie Q has been with the Doctor for three months now and she trusts him with her life, what happens when secrets are brought to the surface and she is thrown into a whole new world on her own? SEQUEL TO BORDERING INSANITY
1. Chapter 1

**Times Change**

**(Edited)**

**AN: so here is the first chapter of the new and hopefully better Times Change. It is a completely new storyline, so enjoy and please review.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or Torchwood.**

Chapter one:

It was probably late morning, in earth time anyway, when I made my way to the control room. Sure enough, the Doctor was already in there, tinkering with something underneath the consol. I shuffled my feet and kicked an imaginary stone, waiting to see if he would notice me. He didn't. I was about to announce my presence when his head suddenly shot up, his unruly fringe wildly flopping into his eye and the golden glow that illuminated the overly large room lit up his impish, boyish grin.

"Ah, good morning Addie Q!"

He gestured quickly to my outfit which consisted of a vest top, covered by a white baseball jacket, denim shorts, tight and my usual converse, white today. He continued,

"You may want to change, not good camping attire."

He bent down and resumed whatever he was doing without so much as a second glance.

"Camping?" I asked, completely confused.

He ignored me.

"Doctor." I growled,

He clearly sensed my annoyance as he stood up once more. A look of complete innocence on his face as he spoke,

"That's what I said, yes."

I raised my eyebrow at him. He sighed and reluctantly moved over to the jump seat like a child who had been told too many times to sit on the naughty step. He began to explain;

"I have this friend, sort of. We have an odd relationship, met him first during world war two. There were these zombie like things so I didn't really get to know him very well, but then we met again-"

I impatiently cleared my throat.

"Sorry." He looked back at me, "Was I rambling?"

"Just a bit, yeah."

He shook his head, apparently clearing his thoughts,

"His name's Jack." He spoke as though that tiny piece of information would explain everything.

"Doctor, you said camping?" I inquired again, more nervous than anything, he'd been acting odd recently. Like he wasn't really there. Like he was carrying a heavy burden or secret that he desperately wanted to tell me about.

He never did, mind. But I always took it as though he didn't want to hurt me, rather than the fact that he didn't trust me. To tell you the truth, I had trusted him the moment he had asked me to; he had just had a look about him. Apparently I didn't have the same effect on him. I brushed the thoughts aside as he spoke again,

"Yes. I did." He grinned once again and switched back to his normal Doctor mode, "He has a problem and needs my. _Our._" He corrected himself, "Assistance. So go and get changed."

I rolled my eyes but did as I was told. I wanted to know who this Jack person was anyway. The Doctor hadn't given too much away; he was frustratingly brilliant at doing that.

I retreated back to my room, now it was my turn to act like the child, so I did. I made sure that the strange old timelord, that I know called my best friend, could hear me stamping my feet loudly on the metal type floor of the corridors, the sound of my footsteps reverberated from the walls and just for a moment, I could of sworn that I had heard him chuckle. I grinned before frowning; camping definatly wasn't my type of thing, granted I'd never actually been- growing up in an asylum and all- but I knew what it entailed; sleeping on a lumpy, uncomfortable, blow up mattress (if you're lucky.) and having to deal with spiders in your bed, I grimaced at the thought, a small shudder creeping up my spine. Not only those two things, but I knew that my hair wouldn't stay looking decent after a few days in… well I had no idea as to where we were going, knowing the doctor it could be anywhere. I sighed and shook my head as I punched in the code for my room.

A few minutes later, I was once again making my way to the control room, now wearing a pair of torn baggy jeans and an overnight bag hung loosely from my shoulder. The TARDIS had seemed to know instantly what I was looking for when I had entered the vast wardrobe. All of the clothes I would need were in front of me pretty much as soon as I had stepped through the doors.

"Doctor!" I called, feeling strangely lonely as I wandered down the steps towards the console. The sound of my call echoed slightly around the now empty ship. The light was still on, however, and the TARDIS was still humming gently so it wasn't creepy, just empty.

"Outside!" I jumped slightly as the Doctor voices cut through my thoughts. He sounded distant.

I spun around on my heels, trying to get a sense of from where abouts his voice was coming from. Upon seeing the doors, I realised that one of them was slightly ajar, a dull beam of light stretched lazily through the open space and onto the floor, it illuminated the dust particles that floated through the air, distending out for about a metre before stopping suddenly. I tilted my head to one side, taking note of the fact that I could hear two voices coming the other side of the wooden doors; one was undoubtedly the Doctors and the other one sounded American. Intrigued, I made my way towards the large double doors, hiking my bag up onto my shoulder as I went. I walked outside.

And instantly wished that I hadn't.

I was surrounded by a thick, dirty grey mist that seemed to obscure the landscape, eerily creating shadows where shadows shouldn't belong, making it feel as though there was an unknown presence that could be just out of sight, watching us without us seeing it. This feeling disappeared when I glanced down and saw that my converse were soaking wet after about twenty seconds of stand in the sodden shin high grass that whipped around my legs as I took a carful step forward. I groaned loudly as large gust of wind whipped a few strands of hair that had fallen out of the bun that I had hap-hazardly pulled to the back of my head before leaving the TARDIS. The Doctor turned around instantly, his grin faltering when he saw the state of my shoes,

"Ah, yes. Probably should have told you to change your shoes." He glanced up at me as I raised an accusing eyebrow at him,

"Anyhow." He said with a flourish, "Adelaide Quinn, meet-"

The American accent pounded through the Doctor's sentence as a dark haired, tall man in a military coat swaggered out from behind him,

"Captain Jack Harkness. Love your name." he said with a wink as he held out his hand, I took it and shook it firmly as I spoke,

"Uh, thanks." I stuttered, completely taken aback at how good looking this guy was.

He grinned at me, I grinned back.

"Ahem." The Doctor announced his presence with a false cough before pointing at me, "You, go and change your shoes," he turned to Jack, "And you, stop it."

Jack raised his hands in defence, "I was only saying hello."

"You weren't."

I cut in, "Oh, I don't mind." I smirked at Jack as I opened the TARDIS door.

The Doctor face-palmed.

**So chapter one is up, as always tell me what you think and I hope you enjoyed it.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Times change**

**AN: Sorry for the massive wait, this story should be back in full swing now.**

**Hope you like this chapter and, as always; please review and tell me what you think.**

**DISCLAIMER: Am still not owning Doctor who.**

Chapter two:

I fell to the floor for the third time in under a minute. I really should learn to not wander about whilst the Doctor is flying. Perhaps I should have considered crawling back to the control room. No, that wouldn't have looked very dignified. So I took to trying to stand again, whilst balancing myself against the cool bronze of the wall. I made my way to the top of the stairs, looking down on the control room. The Doctor was running around the centre panel, waving his arms in all direction as another shudder wavered through the ship. I feel backwards again, landing hard on my back, a groan escaping my lips. I sat up slightly and leant on my elbows.

"What's happening? I thought we'd landed already."

The Doctor looked up at me, his features a painted with a mixture of confusion and shock.

"We have, I don't know what's happening!"

I studied his expression; I had never seen him so disordered.

The TARDIS shook again and I gave up on trying to stand and just lay there.

We were soon plunged into darkness as each light in the great ship faded, I looked up. Only just able to make out the Doctor's silhouette against the dull-looking metal of the wall. Jacks voice soon filled the empty air as he jogged down another hallway towards me-

"What is it? What's happened?"

Another violent shake erupted from beneath the floor and Jack sauntered over to help me to stand. He looked at me, silently asking if I was okay. I nodded as the two of us turned to face the Doctor. The timelord seemed to have frozen as he leant over the console, head down in defeat. The shaking seemed to have stopped, and so I made my way down towards him.

"Doctor?"

He said nothing. I gave Jack a concerned glance before turning back to the Doctor.

"Doctor? What is it? What's wrong?" This time he answered-

"She's dead."

Now, that I wasn't expecting.

"Sorry?"

He didn't glance my way as he spoke-

"She's dead, we're in a dead TARDIS," He stood and took a deep breath, "This happens too often."

"What do you mean?"

He turned to me in a rage.

"The TARDIS is dead, Adelaide. Kupoot, gone, no longer working!"

I recoiled slightly at his tone and he sent me an apologetic look. I smiled slightly and he turned to Jack.

"We're still in the same place," His tone was blunt, "So you can lead us to wherever it is you are staying."

Jack nodded, "It's not too far away."

The American made his way down the steps and toward the doors of the TARDIS. I mad to follow but the Doctor held my wrist; I turned to him as he spoke-

"Rule one, what is it?"

I stayed silent for a second, a little confused at his sudden questioning.

"Adelaide?" He gave me a pleading look.

"Don't wander off." I answered, still slightly bewildered.

He suddenly beamed and went back into normal Doctor Mode, "Good girl!"

And with that, he grabbed my hand and led me through the double doors.

So that was how I found myself walking, almost knee deep, in sludge. I walked silently beside the Doctor; he was no longer sulking, or angry, but seemed to be going over something in his mind. I kept my eyes trained on Jacks back as I spoke-

"Do you know what happened? Why she suddenly… Y'know." I couldn't quite bring myself to say that the TARDIS was dead, for I knew just how much of a burden the thought was for the timelord.

"Not a clue." He stated solemnly, whilst looking at his feet.

"Where about's are we?" I changed the subject.

He sniffed and looked up. He glanced around for a few seconds before answering-

"Wales, by the looks of it."

I nodded, not really knowing anything else to say. The two of us fell into silence before Jack's voice drifted over his shoulder-

"You're half way up Snowdon."

I gave him a confused look, I'd never heard of the place.

"Big mountain." Was all he said.

I nodded again and looked around. You wouldn't have known that we were half way up a mountain for the fog was so thick that I was unable to see the undoubtedly steep drops of the edge mountain that may only have been a few feet away. I found myself edging slightly towards the Doctor for fear of falling down a steep precipice or unknowingly finding the edge of a quarry.

The path on which we were walking began to incline, only slightly at first but after a few minutes I soon found myself becoming tired as my legs tried to power up the pathway which was created from loose gravel and sand. The wind had gotten up and the bun at the back of my head soon was no more. I attempted to pull my hood up to protect my ears and face from the drizzle that battered our faces although, after a few mere seconds it would be blown forcefully behind my head and would land, once again, on my shoulders. My hair stuck to my head and face as the wind assaulted my loose jeans which were sodden and heavy.

Eventually the three of us reached the summit of the hill of which we were climbing, the mist was thicker up here and it unnerved me no end as the darkness of night consumed the last edges of light from the day. A shape moved in the grey a few metres ahead and a distant call of "_Jack!" _could be heard. Jack immediately perked up and picked up his pace. The Doctor and I followed, curious to see who this person was. Walking closer to the figure in the fog I noticed another shape; two large tents stood at an angle near the edge of a rather steep drop. This, however, wasn't what caught my attention; the smell of a warm chicken curry had drifted through the air and had made me quicken my stride towards the tents.

"Jack? Is that you?"

Coming into vision was a dark haired woman wearing a leather jacket and a pair of dark jeans. In her hand she held a pistol tightly, her pointer finger hovering close to the trigger.

Jack held his arms out wide as he called cheerfully-

"Gwen!" He went to put his arms around her but she recoiled.

"Don't you dare, you're soaked." Her tone quietened, "Did you bring him? Did you find the Doctor?"

It was then that the man in question stood from behind Jack and held out his hand.

"You must be Gwen, nice to meet you. I'm the Doctor, although you had probably guessed that," he then turned in a flourish and gestured to me, "And this cheerful one is Adelaide Quinn."

I gave a lame wave of my left hand and smiled, she returned the gesture before noting the slightly disdainful look on my face and my soaked hair. She gestured to the tent where the lovely smell was coming from,

"I think we'd better go inside."

I nodded great fully and filed in behind her. It wasn't much warmer than outside but at least it was dryer. I sat in one of the four camping chairs and eyed the small stove in the corner. Gwen smiled fondly.

"You hungry?"

I looked up to see the three faces of the others looking back at me. I blushed lightly, embarrassed but nodded none the less.

"I mean, I know that there are more important things, alien invasion and such but I can't fight off E.T on an empty stomach. So, yes please."

Gwen complied and the Doctor laughed and sat beside me as the welsh woman brought over a plastic bowl if the dinner. I had forgotten that I hadn't actually eaten anything all day; I had only just woken up before we landed here, and it was late afternoon, early evening when we had arrived at the small camp site. I said my thanks and got stuck in. Gwen and Jack shared a look before the former sat and spoke-

"People have gone missing, lots of people. Normally we can deal with this sort of thing but there's only two of us now and it's not a normal "Find the alien, get rid of it" sort of job."

The Doctor gave him a questioning look and Jack continued-

"This thing is unbelievably fast, and we think it can morph into a human. We're not even sure if it's still here."

Gwen spoke next, "The fact is Doctor; we are way out of our depth with this, we haven't got a clue."

The Doctor nodded and leant back in his chair as he thought.

"How many people has it taken?"

"The death toll's risen to twenty one." Jack answered.

"Death toll?" I had finished my plate full and questioned him, "I thought that they were only missing."

Jack sighed, as did Gwen, "Parts have been found."

I swallowed; I did not like the sound of that.

"Parts?" The Doctor questioned.

Jack nodded, "An arm, a leg. We even found the remnants of a waist a few days back."

I was glad that I had finished my meal by now. I pulled my legs up to my chest.

"Lovely." I muttered, slightly revolted.

The four of us sat in silence. Each possessed by our own thoughts.

To be entirely honest; I was absolutely terrified.

**Constructive criticism is always welcome.**

**Next chapter should be up soon.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Times change**

**AN: I am having a bit of trouble with writing this story in first person. I've been experimenting and have decided to change the style of which I write. I will go back and change the first two chapters at a later date. Please bear with me on this.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Doctor Who or Torchwood.**

I sit opposite Gwen and listen intently as she tells me stories about the old Torchwood team and what they got up to. We're sitting in a medium sized sleeping compartment whilst both The Doctor and Jack are in the main section of the tent. It's probably about two in the morning but I'm not particularly tired, especially after hearing about the grizzly deaths of the many people that had gone missing. I couldn't actually understand why we were camping in the same area where many people had been murdered by something extra-terrestrial and, to put it plainly; sick in the head. I wrap the blanket tighter around me as a slight breeze flows through the fabric wall of the tent. Although it has stopped raining, the wind has picked up and it is now bone shatteringly cold.

I haven't had a chance to change, as of yet. My overnight bag is out in the main compartment and I can't quite bring myself to intervene in the men's in depth conversation. They're quite clearly thinking of a plan. I would help, of course, but my ideas would be something along the lines of; 'Get the army to launch a bomb or something.' I doubt that sort of thing would go down well with the Timelord especially.

"So, how long have you been with him then?" Gwen's voice fills my ears.

"Uhh, about three months." I answer, slightly distracted whilst trying to listen through the partition.

She nods and lies back on her grey camp bed. I follow suit, but with my head closer to the door of the compartment so I could still listen. I rest my hands behind my head and cross my ankles. The two in the living area of the tent have hushed, keeping their voices low so it is difficult to listen. I close my eyes as my mind drifts back to the TARDIS; knowing that she is a living thing makes it even more difficult to wrap my head around the situation. I can't quite understand how it could possibly have happened.

A 'Snap' from outside wakes me from my thoughts. Gwen's eyes have shot open, as have mine. We look at each other for a second before I see her slowly slide her hand under her pillow. I tilt my head in confusion before she pulls out a pistol. The silence on the other side of the fabric confirms that both The Doctor and Jack have heard the sound of movement. Gwen beckons for me to sit up and I do so, following her lead.

_Snap_

Another twig is broken, closer this time. The sound is coming from the back of the tent and I pick up my jacket (Which is now dry, ish) and put it on, as silently as possible. The two of us move to the zip of the compartment and Gwen un-does it before stepping out, I follow. Jack is standing, gun at the ready, and The Doctor is still sat, frozen and listening.

_Snap_

I feel like I'm in a horror film- granted, I've never seen one, but I reckon I get the gist. At this sound, The Doctor now stands. The four of us stay like that in silence; waiting. The next sound is not a snap, but heavy breathing, it emanates from the other side of the tent, just beside me. I instantly move towards The Doctor and grab his lower arm in fright. He lays a comforting hand on mine and gently peels me off of him before moving forward. I feel like hitting him around the head for being so bold and stupid but Jack gets there first; grabbing his shoulder and pushing him back- okay, so it's not a whack 'round the head but it does the job. The air is silent now but we are still able to feel the stranger's presence from the other side of the fabric. Jack steps forward, raising his gun in doing so. He beckons for Gwen to follow and the two make their way outside. The Doctor rolls his eyes and I give him a questioning glance.

"Always with the guns." He mutters before moving forwards.

I follow close behind and jump backwards with a yelp as both Jack and Gwen fly backwards, they land in the dirt a few metres back, their guns flying from their grip and landing somewhere in the dark. I look forward again as The Doctor pushes me behind him. A shape looms from the gloom up ahead; I squint to get a better view of the old man walking towards us. He wears a large over coat and a pair of baggy trousers, a long grey beard falls to the middle of his chest. His brow is furrowed by the looks of it, although it's hard to tell in the pitch black of night. The Doctor, still with an arm behind his back; keeping me in place, pulls out his sonic screwdriver as the man advances slowly.

"It's not human." He mumbles before appearing to talk to the sonic, "Yeah, thank you, gathered that. Anything useful?"

The man before us speaks, causing the Doctor to pocket the screwdriver and look up.

"So you've seen through the disguise?" its tone is patronising, "That is a shame. I suppose that there is no need for it now."

It shrugs and I gasp and hold back a gag as the skin on its face peels back in a disgusting manner to reveal brown skin and a featureless face, the over coat and trousers fall to the floor at the creatures feet.

The creature, itself, looks top heavy. The thin legs seem to be too weak to carry its upper body but still, it stands tall. It is probably about 5'8 and so it stands taller than myself.

"This better?" it mocks.

"Not really." The Doctor answers, "I preferred the beard."

It laughs; a hollow sound that echoes through the empty mountain air.

"What are you?" The Doctor demands.

It stops laughing and stands up straight.

"Scary, apparently." A thin, bony hand gestures to me.

Or my rather probable terrified facial expression.

It jolts its head forward, "Boo!"

I stand my ground and force myself not to recoil in fear. I lift my chin as I repeat the Doctor's question-

"No, really, what are you?"

It evades my question but continues to mock me. Seriously, this guy hasn't even got a mouth, how is he speaking?

"Big, brave girl, aren't we? Standing behind the Oncoming Storm. I wonder how you would react if you were alone."

I gulp as the Doctor grabs my wrist; re-assuring me. It works… slightly. I can tell that he is becoming agitated. He leans forward, speaking dangerously quiet-

"Tell me what you are, now."

It nods; complying.

"I am one of the Rakoli."

The Doctor nods as Jack speaks from behind me-

"One of?"

Its head snaps toward the American.

"There are forty clans in total."

The Doctor stays silent, still holding my wrist whilst processing the new information.

"Anyway," The Rakoli's voice breaks the silence, "I'm going to move you, all of you."

My head snaps up, as does the Doctor's. Gwen comes to stand beside me.

"Why?" She asks.

"How?" I ask at the same time, forever the noob.

The Rakoli seems to shrug, staying quiet for a moment before answering.

"For the money." It states simply, it turns to me, "Don't panic, little girl, a little teleportation won't hurt anyone."

I share a panicked glance with the Timelord beside me before the ground disappears from beneath my feet and I fall.

**Constructive criticism welcome, tell me what you think.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Times Change**

**AN: Thank you to; animemonkey13 for the review.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Doctor Who or Torchwood.**

Chapter 4-

I land with a dull thud on the sodden ground, there's a crack emanating from my right arm and I screw up my face in pain. I lay there for a few seconds, breathing hard and shaking slightly. My head's spinning and I can no longer feel my legs. Wet drizzle gently assaults my face as I stare up at the grey sky. I groan as I build the strength to heave myself off of the dirt. I sit up and look around; there's no civilisation near, as far as I can see anyway. I've landed in a large bushel of heather. So, I'm on a moor? A guess, but it seems logical. Feeling the sodden mulch of the ground soak through my jeans, I stand. A little quicker than I should and soon, I'm leaning on a nearby rock for support. My knees weaken and my head spins.

"Doctor?" I choke.

Looking around, I see no one. My hope is dying fast.

"Jack?" I'm near to sobbing now.

The rain patters my back as I try one final attempt-

"Gwen?"

Okay, so I am alone. On a moor, in the rain, in the middle of nowhere.

I turn and lean my back against the rock. My arm aches from the fall and my legs feel like jelly. For a moment I just stand there, my arms hugging my body; trying to keep what little warmth I have. My jacket is, of course, useless; it's the second time in less than twenty four hours that I am soaked through to the skin. I peel off the wet fabric and throw it to the ground, in a slight tantrum. I growl, a childish sound that appears in my throat; I could have been teleported anywhere, why here? Of all places, why not somewhere warm and cosy?

The sudden movement of throwing my jacket to the ground has caused a large amount of pain in my right elbow and I wince as I wrap my hand around it; supporting it. With a huff, I begin to move forward, painfully slowly at first as my legs are still weak.

I've decided that I hate teleportation.

Little by little, my feet move. I trip several times on the muddy, uneven ground but force myself to carry on. Occasionally I call out, mainly for The Doctor; wondering if he was transported nearby. Although, I never was a particularly lucky person, so the chances that he was near were miniscule.

As I walk, I try to look on the bright side; at least there was no mist here, and no severe, deadly drops close.

It's not long before I find myself walking up a hill, the incline is gradual at first but the path on which I walk soon becomes steep. I stop for a moment to catch my breath which hangs in the chilled early evening air and I turn to study the area around me; a large plain of heather and dull green grass stretches before me and although I feel as though I have walked miles, I can still spot the rock of which I landed next to. Another wave of pain shoots through my arm and I swear under my breath and grimace, tears appearing in the corner of my eyes as I shiver; taking off my jacket has left me in nothing but a vest top and a pair of grey fingerless gloves covering my upper body and my jeans are so wet and cold that I may as well not wear any, I do, however, decide to keep them on.

I turn on my heels and walk a few more paces before I reach the summit of the grassy bank. Orange lights glow from the bottom of the small y shaped valley that I am standing above, there is a field full of sheep between myself and the small village but I see this as an easy obstacle and keep moving. Upon coming to the wooden fence, I climb- rather ungracefully- over it and land in ankle-deep mud. A few of the animals chance their heads lazily towards me before turning back the grass and taking a bite, clearly deciding that food is more interesting.

Trudging through the field, I notice a pub on the corner of the small street that I am now standing opposite. I decide to head towards it. I dodge around the knee high animals that do not move and, once again, climb the damp, slightly wobbly wooden fence.

It takes a total of about one minute and thirty seconds for me to get to the front door of the pub. The rain is harder now and the wind's got up. This makes up my mind; I push forward and enter the building. A shiver of pleasure makes its way up my spine as warmth washes over me, I notice a large log fire in the corner and fight the urge to go over and warm myself. Instead, I make my way up towards the bar. The barman is serving someone else and so I wait, tapping anxiously on the glossed wood.

"Y'allright, love?"

I turn to him,

"Yeah, uhh…"

I trail off, not really knowing what to say.

"I'm looking for the… uhh… Doctor?"

He raises a slightly confused eyebrow before tilting his head to the left.

"There's Doctor Barrette down the road."

I shake my head and try again-

"Jack Harkness?"

The barman freezes and slams the glass of which he was holding on the bar. The sound of glass shattering on wood makes everyone in the room turn to us. I bite my lip, nervous.

"Get out."

My eyes widen in confusion, what had I done?

Everyone is still staring at me, either shocked or angry.

"I said; get out!"

His face is red with anger as he bellows at me now. I stare at him blankly; completely dumbfounded. He steps closer and leans over the bar.

"Are you deaf?"

I shake my head.

"Then shift it!"

I do so, holding my hands up in defence. Before opening the door I stop, not wanting to go back out in the elements. The fact that it is pitch black out there is also a bit of a turn off. I look back over my shoulder to see the barman glaring at me. I obey solemnly and step out into the weather.

()()()()()()()

Walking next to a tall hedge, I shiver once again. It must be below zero degrees and all I'm wearing is a vest and a pair of damp jeans. This day couldn't possible get much worse. I'm heading out of the small village when the heavens truly open and I am completely drenched within about two seconds. It is now when I feel myself begin to break down. I stop as several sobs rack through my body. What on earth was my plan? There was nothing that I could possibly do. I wrap my arms around myself in attempt to keep calm, this, of course, fails and the movement only sends more pain shooting through my arm. This, in turn, causes more sobs to escape my mouth and I consider just curling into a ball and staying there.

I blink, hard, and keep my eyes shut for several seconds, forcing no more tears to escape my eyes. This works and I stand up straight, taking a shaky breath and trying to console myself. Light suddenly appears behind me and I spin slowly; a large four by four is coming towards me, the headlights are blinding and I squint as it pulls up beside me. The window winds down to reveal a brunette man in the driver's seat. I look at him blankly, not really knowing what to say. Luckily, he speaks first-

"Everything alright?"

I say nothing but shake my head slightly, lost for words.

"You look lost."

I nod, "I am a bit, yeah."

He smiles and gestures behind him, into the car-

"You need a lift?"

I freeze; I could either severely regret the decision I'm about to make or it could be the best one I ever make. I go with the second possibility and nod.

"Yeah, please."

"In you get then."

I hesitate for a second before seeing a head of curly blonde hair in the back; a child, only about three or four, he's sleeping peacefully and this calms me slightly. I pull the door open gently and slip in. it is now that I notice the woman in the passenger seat, she's heavily pregnant and my eyes widen slightly in shock; I honestly hadn't seen her before getting in the car. I faze back into reality, muttering an apology. She smiles at me and the man speaks again-

"What are you doing outside on a night like this, then?"

I run the past few hours quickly through my head before getting close to breaking down again. I shake my head and bite my lip; determined not to cry. I open my mouth to answer him but no words come out, just an odd strangled sound of grief. He waits patiently but after seeing that I had no words to describe my situation he calmed me and asked my name.

"A-Adelaide," I manage to stutter, "Adelaide Quinn."

He looks in the mirror, catches my eye and smiles, "Nice to meet you, Adelaide. I'm George Partridge, this is my wife; Amelie." He gestures to the child at my side, "That's Charlie."

Amelie speaks up, with a graceful French accent-

"Are you staying nearby?"

I shake my head.

"I don't even know where I am."

Here come the waterworks again. She reaches back and pats my knee gently before noticing that I am cradling my arm.

"What have you done?"

I look up.

"I-I fell." It wasn't a complete lie.

"We will sort that out."

I decide that I don't have much of a choice, and so, I trust them.


	5. Chapter 5

**Times Change**

**AN: ****Thank-you to Kie 1993 for the comment on the last chapter.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Doctor Who or Torchwood.**

Chapter 5-

"So, how'd you end up here?"

I pull the thick blanket further around my shoulders and tuck my legs underneath me. George sits behind me on the sofa; I can feel his enquiring stare boring into the back of my head. I do not turn around as I answer—

"I… uh… was dropped off by a friend a few miles back, we… uh… had an argument."

It's a bad lie, I know but I have a feeling that saying something along the lines of; 'I was teleported here by an alien with no face' would end up with me being sectioned… again. I turn in time to see him nod and inspect his bottle of beer before turning back to the small fire of which I am sitting in front of.

"Do you know where this _friend _was heading?"

I shake my head and pick the bandage support that is wrapped around my right elbow.

"What was the argument about?"

I crack my knuckles, nervous; I have no answer for that particular question. Luckily, Amelie pads into the room and speaks—

"Do not question her like that. She's clearly had a shock." She turns to me, "I've found a place for you to stay, if you don't mind apologising, that is."

I raise a tired and confused eyebrow. She explains—

"The pub, Bill's got a spare room,"

I make to speak.

"I—"

"—don't worry, he didn't tell me what happened but he wants to talk to you; give you a chance to explain."

I feel my face pale; how was I going to explain something that I hardly understand myself? Before I can say anything, however, she places a duffel bag on the wooden floor beside me.

"He doesn't bite."

After some hesitant seconds, I nod and get up off of the floor. I shuffle my feet and make my way to the door.

"I'll drive you." Amelie offers kindly.

I nod and smile.

()()()()()()()()()

I follow Amelie sheepishly into the bar. There are only a few people sitting at the tables now, including a hooded man who is sat in the corner, sipping from a pint glass. He looks up and tries to catch my eye but I flinch my eyes away from him and towards the barman- who I gather is named Bill. He turns from the bar and smiles—

"Amelie! How good to see you again."

Amelie grins broadly, "You to Bill, how have you been?"

"Not too bad. You look good, yourself."

He then spots me and his cheer seems to disappear.

"Hello again." He said flatly.

I smile nervously and Amelie wraps an arm around my shoulders and introduces me—

"Have you met Adelaide? I believe that you two got off on the wrong foot."

Bill nods slowly whilst saying-

"I hear that you need a room."

I nod, "Please."

He places both hands on the bar and grips the wood as he scrutinises me before beckoning me towards him. I comply and follow him behind the bar and turn to see Amelie settling herself on a sofa, urging me to go.

"You know Jack Harkness?" Bill suddenly asks once we are in a small office.

I nod wearily.

"Sort of." I answer before explaining, "He was a friend of another friend, but it seems that everyone dislikes him here."

Bill chuckles, "It's not just here, love."

"What do you mean?"

He sits and leans forward, suddenly curious.

"Maybe we're talking about a different Jack Harkness."

I nod eagerly and he raises an accusing eyebrow as he speaks—

"My Jack Harkness is a murderer."

This sentence shocks me to the core. There must be two people with the same name, surely. Bill continues—

"It's all over the news," he leans back thoughtfully, "But I thought he was in prison."

I take this time to defend my situation—

"The Jack I know is not a murderer." I state keenly.

His questioning continues, as does my defence until we both come to some sort of agreement; I was to stay and earn my keep, as it were. Apparently he needed someone behind the bar. I agreed to this, of course, and I promise myself that I would keep my head down, at least until I figure out what on earth is going on.

We walk back out into the bar and Amelie gives me a questioning glance, Bill nods from beside me and she smiles. Passing me the duffel bag, she gives me a rather unexpected hug which I gingerly return with one arm.

"Now, you look after yourself."

I nod whilst severely disliking the slightly patronising look on her face and the fact that she used a term of phrase that Doctor Mayhew would have used. I frown at the memory of that particular Doctor. Amelie turns to Bill—

"Don't work her too hard." She warns.

He nods in understanding and the French woman leaves with a friendly wave of her hand. I stare at the door for a moment or two before Bill's voice pulls me out of my trance—

"C'mon, I'll show you your room."

**Short, I know, but it sorts some things out. I'll try to keep the chapters longer in the future.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Times Change**

**AN: Thank-you to; Kie 1993 and animemonkey13 for the reviews of last chapter.**

**AN2; I don't normally do this but, I'm going to advertise. I have written another Doctor Who story called**_** Seeker,**_** so far it has two chapters (third is being written) and only one review and not many people are reading it at all, so, if you have the time, pop over and give it a read, perhaps a review too.**

**Anyway, enough of that.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Doctor Who or Torchwood.**

Chapter 6-

_Darkness is all I see when I open my eyes. I think I'm upright, but it's hard to tell when everything is black. I make to pull my hands from behind my back but find that they are bound together, my ankles are the same. A cool feeling floods through my shirt; metal. I am tied to a post. Biting my lip in an attempt to keep calm, I fiddle with the rope at my wrists; trying to break free. It is then that I feel rough fabric graze my cheek and the darkness is lifted away. My sight blurs for a few seconds and I blink several times to regain my senses; a dark grey, concrete floor stretches out before me, ending at a slightly darker wall. I turn my head to the left and spot large crates filled with something unknown. I sigh and lay my head back onto the metal pole; I shut my eyes and take several deep breaths._

_My eyes snap open as something hard hits my upper arm. I look down to where the medium sized pebble has landed at my feet._

"_Hello?" I frown at the sudden movement._

_Another pebble hits my thigh from the other side and I snap my attention to the right._

"_Hey?"_

_A grey stone narrowly misses hitting my nose and I push my head back into the metal, eyes wide. Another stone hits my lower back from behind and I shriek in surprise._

"_Who's there?" I call over my shoulder._

_It is then that the onslaught of pebbles and stones fly through the air, many hitting my arms and legs. I keep my head down in an attempt to protect my face as another wave of round rocks come from each direction. I let out a high pitched scream as another stone connects with my side, a crack emanates from my ribs and I choke as air is forced from my lungs. Blood hits the floor as I cough violently, I don't even remember my face being hit. The world spins as another, smaller stone connects with my forehead, I feel a cut form just above my left eyebrow. It is then that the violent outburst halts and silence fills the room. I'm sobbing hard which is difficult and hurts as my chest and lungs heave. The pain makes me sob more and for a minute, it seems that I am, once again, alone in the room._

_That is until the sound of footsteps echo from behind me, I have no energy to lift my head and see who it is who seems to be inspecting me; the person circles me for a minute or two, I can feel their eyes bore into my skull as I continue to look at the small puddle of crimson liquid by my feet through my tear-drenched eyes._

"_Look up." The order comes from the person in front of me._

_I don't move a muscle; petrified by my fear._

"_Sir, I—"Someone from behind me begins to speak but is cut off by the person in front of me._

"_I want to see her face."_

_A hand grasps my chin and forces me to look up._

"_Now, that's better isn't it?" The man questions snidely whilst rubbing the blood roughly of off my chin with a pale hanker-chief._

_I just stare up at him, at a loss for words. He is still holding my chin as he tilts my face from side to side; scrutinizing me._

"_You look a little upset, my dear." He states, clearly feigning concern._

_Again, I say nothing; too exhausted to speak. He solves this problem._

"_Where is he?"_

_I look into his dark eyes, they show no emotion. I have no idea what he's talking about._

"_C'mon, you've been looking for him for months. It's been almost four now, hasn't it? Poor you, all alone in a strange place, how have you been keeping?"_

_I try to lower my gaze from him but his hold on my chin forces me to keep eye contact._

"_Adelaide," How does he know my name? "I'm not a very patient man."_

_The way he speaks sends shivers down my spine and I close my eyes tightly. I hear him sigh and I open my eyes as he lowers his head towards mine, his face merely millimetres away._

"_Tell me."_

"_Who are you?" I manage to say, evading his irritant questioning._

"_Oh," He stands in a flourish, "How very rude of me, we haven't been introduced. I'm The Master."_

I spring upright in my tangled mess of bed sheets. I instantly feel my face and side; nothing. It was only a dream, well, more of a nightmare.

"Adelaide!"

I jump at the sound emanating from the other side of my door—

"Get your backside out of bed, now. It's nearly ten!"

I look over at the clock on my wall, Bill was right; 09:56am. I rub my hands over my face, trying to delete my memories of the dream, and slip out of bed. I pad to the small bathroom to the left and turn the shower on; allowing it to warm up. As I wait, I glance around the small bedsit which has been my home for the past three and a half months and decide that it really needs re-furnishing. Another loud knock at my, so called, front door tells me that I should really get a move on and so, I step into the shower, which is freezing cold. All in all, not a good start to the day.

()()()()()()()

I pull a large hoodie over my head whilst packing up my research from the night before; I've been looking for any information about The Doctor, Jack and Gwen. There is almost nothing on the first and last but Jack seems to be rather infamous; according to recent events he has killed over twenty people and is regarded as severely dangerous by the police and government. Upon finding this information, I had decided that I had been transported to some sort of parallel universe as things are completely different here; cities are ruled by some sort of thing known as the Toclafane. Although these sphere like metal creatures are swarming in the cities, here, in the small villages of Cornwall, only three to four fly past each week. I try to keep out of their way as they seem to have something to do with the whole Jack business. Basically, the world has gone to pot.

At first sight of the Prime Minister, Harold Saxon, I had felt a knot in my stomach. It seemed as though I was terrified of him from the word go. There was something that I seriously did not like about him. Amelie had told me how he had won the election fair and square and that all he did was surely for the good of the country, I was not so easily convinced. And so, the nightmares started, about once or twice a week at most. I say nightmares but I really mean _nightmare_, it's just the same dream, repeated every week. And it never ceases to terrify me.

So that is why I keep my research to myself, kept, hidden away in a draw beneath my bed. No-one knows about it besides me, I decided that it would be better that way; I could always trust myself better than I could trust anyone else.

Once I finish packing away, I make my way downstairs, towards the bar and out of the front door. There is a small garden to the side of the pub and it is my job to keep it neat and tidy. I do so happily, unless it's raining, but it's summer now and although the air is crisp, it's not raining. I smile fondly at Rob- the young postman in the village- as he walks through the small white gate.

"Anything for me?" I ask although I already know the answer, it is worth a try; keep up appearances and all that.

"Nope." He answers, popping the 'P', "But there's something here for Bill, if you'd be so kind."

He hands me a small brown envelope.

"No problem." I answer, glancing at the envelope in my hands.

I look up to see him staring at me.

"What?" I ask.

"Nothing," he says slowly before gesturing to his forehead, "You've got a small cut, hadn't noticed it 'till now."

I freeze and feel above my eye, sure enough, my fingers come away slightly bloody. I stare at the red liquid and feel the colour drain from my face. Rob continues, not noticing my panic—

"Probably cut it whilst you were gardening." He states.

"Yeah." I answer distractedly as he makes his way down the road, "Must have."


	7. Chapter 7

**Time Change**

**AN: Thank-you to animemonkey12 and Kie 1993 for their reviews on last chapter.**

**Perhaps I could get a couple more this time?**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Doctor Who or Torchwood.**

Chapter 7-

I sigh and glance at the clock for about the fifth time in about ten minutes; 11:54 and the punters aren't thinning at all. I lean forward and rest my elbows on the mahogany coloured bar and look around the room; silently willing everyone to leave so that I can close up. This obviously doesn't work and I stifle a yawn and rest my chin in my hands; staring into the flickering flames of the log fire in the corner.

"Half a Guinness, please."

I turn to see Rob sat at the bar on one of the red velvet stools. The twenty one year old looks up and smiles at me. I return the gesture, grab a glass and move over to the pump.

"You alright?" He asks, sounding slightly cautious.

I give him a confused look before turning back to the filling glass.

"It's just," His voice drifts over my shoulder, "You look a bit pale today, when you saw the cut earlier you looked as though you'd seen a ghost." He chuckles lightly and I hesitate before turning and giving him my best 'there's nothing to see here' smile.

"I'm fine," I assure him, "Just didn't sleep well last night."

As I finish my sentence, a large pain wavers through my torso, starting in my side. It seems to ricochet around my rib cage before stopping and disappearing. The sudden shock has caused me to breathe sharply and grip the glass of which I am holding, I knock it on the bar and it smashes loudly. Shards slice into my palm and fingers and I swear quietly before fumbling for a cloth to wrap around my, now bleeding, hand. Rob is out of his seat and is leaning over the bar.

"Ads?" My nickname here, "Ads, what happened?"

"Nothing." I say quickly, "I just phased out a bit, that's all. It's nothing." I say, shaking my head.

"It doesn't look like nothing." He raises a concerned eyebrow.

"Rob," I laugh, trying to sound as calm as possible, "Stop worrying, it's just a cut."

I peel off the red-soaked cloth to reveal several deep gashes in on my left hand and fingers. A specific cut on the tip of my pointer finger is bleeding profusely and I quickly press the cloth back on.

My head is spinning with different possibilities of what could have happened, the main one having something to do with the nightmare at the start of the day. It was the same pain I felt during the dream, in the same place. Surely that has to mean something.

I grit my teeth and breathe deeply as the pain in my hand subsides. Slowly, I peel back the cloth the cuts are still bleeding slightly, I study my hand, the last few minutes run quickly through my head, as does my dream;

"_Hello?"_

"_Who's there?"_

"_Look up."_

"_I want to see her face."_

"_I'm The Master."_

"Ads!" I snap my head up to look at Rob, "You need to put a bandage on that."

I nod and begin to make my way towards the first aid cupboard, but not before turning back to my friend at the bar.

"I can wait, go."

I nod and head out of the bar.

()()()()()()()()

"Sorted?" Rob asks.

"Yeah." I smile, inspecting my hand, seeing how much movement my wrist has with the bandage on.

He leans back on the stall, "good. Now, how about that Guinness."

I turn to the pump to see that the area is clean. I spin on my heels to face Rob, he smiles smugly.

"If Bill knew that you were behind the bar, he'd have your head." I joke as I reach for another glass on the shelf.

"£1.45."

He hands over the correct money, pulling a slightly indignant face as he does so. I grin as I place the money in the till, clearly he was hoping for a free drink. I smile as I notice that Rob is the only customer left in the bar. I sidle out from behind the dark wood and begin to check the tables. As I wipe a table near the fire, Rob speaks again—

"So, how'd you end up here?"

I stop what I'm doing and freeze, he's never wanted to know before, I quickly change the subject—

"You don't mind if I clear up, do you? It's just that I'm exhausted."

"No," he answers, standing up and studying me curiously, "I was just leaving."

I nod as he heads towards the door, turning before he leaves, he says—

"You're a strange one, d'you know that?" He studies my face once more before turning and leaving.

Now, being alone in the bar, I am able to hear the quiet snoring of Bill from the floor above. The sound of someone else sooths me slightly but it's still not enough. And so, I switch on the TV; Sky news.

"_And another body has been found, this time in Cardiff. It is reported that police are still looking for mass murderer; Jack Harkness, who appears to have gone into hiding after escaping from the prison in Cardiff of which he was held._

"_Police are urging people who know of him to come forward as he is described armed and defiantly dangerous._

"_The Prime minister spoke on this matter earlier today;"_

And there it is; that voice that places fear in my heart; the voice of Harold Saxon;

"_I want to assure the public that everything is under control; this new murder means that the police are able to locate him easier…"_

The screen flicks back to the news reader—

"_This statement comes merely hours after Mister Saxon has decided to re-introduce the death penalty. He says that as soon as Harkness is caught, he will put this rule into action-"_

I violently flick the switch on the back of the TV; deciding that I no longer want to listen. Saxon must be mad, surely; re-introducing the death penalty. How can the rest of the country agree to such a thing?

"Oh, Jack." I sigh and bite my lip as I sit on a stall at the bar, my head in my hands.

**A little short, perhaps? Next chapter should be up soon.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Times Change**

**AN: Big thank you to animemonkey13 and () for reviewing the last chapter.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Doctor Who or Torchwood.**

Chapter 8-

_My palm rests flat against the cool glass as I rest forward. Relying on the large window to hold me up. In fact, my face is so close to the glass that it has steamed up. I get the feeling that I am high up, perhaps looking down into a large room. Once again, I'm alone. Only this time, I'm in a medium sized white room, the brightness of the furniture contrasts with the dull blackness of the world through the window. The sound of a door sliding open catches my senses, but I don't move._

"_Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to Addie Q," the sound of my old nickname makes me spin on my heels and glare at the man that I have come to hate._

_The Master frowns. He carries a rather large chocolate cake with a single candle in the middle of the icing on top. He stops swaying to his song and speaks—_

"_Not in a very cheery mood, my dear?"_

_He's mocking me, I know it._

"_Well then," He shrugs and places the plate on a small table a few metres away. Picking up a thick slice he says—_

"_If you're going to be ungrateful."_

_I watch as he takes a bite from the slice and raises an eyebrow._

"_Waste not want not."_

_I stay where I am, glaring daggers at him._

"_Oh," he fakes offence, "You really aren't in a good mood today," he wags a finger in my direction, "No presents for you."_

_He turns his head and pauses, watching me menacingly from the corner of his eye._

"_Then again, it wouldn't make much difference. You have little experience of gifts."_

_I swallow, trying to ignore his intense insulting and dig my nails into my palm._

"_Bless your parents." He says, standing and rubbing his hands together, crumbs fall to the pale table as he once again picks up the plate._

_He walks over to me and waves it in front of my face._

"_You sure I can't tempt you?"_

_Even If I wanted a slice, I wouldn't have been able to take it for he spun on his heels and moved the plate away quickly._

"_Fine," he says, "Your loss."_

_He stops by the door on his way out and speaks—_

"_I'll see you tonight for your special birthday surprise."_

_There's something about the way he says that sentence that makes my blood run cold._

My eyelids flutter as I awaken; the bright light of the digital clock blinds me in the process. I squint and cover my eyes with my hand before rolling over and groaning. It must be about three in the morning as my room is pitch black. I'm wide awake and just lay there; trying to figure out what on earth is going on with me lately. I shut my eyes and sigh loudly before staying silent for a number of minutes; thinking through the new nightmare. It is then that I hear a light shuffling coming from behind the door to my left, leading into the bathroom. I lay still for a few more seconds, listening, before rolling over and facing the door.

I freeze for what seems like eternity as the door creaks open, only ever so slightly at first. I feel my eyes shut tightly as I will whoever it is to go away. The creaking stops and silence fills the bedsit. This isn't comforting, however, as I can still feel someone's presence. They're looking at me, I know it. It's all I can do to keep my head from sliding under the duvet in fear, although I do tuck it tightly underneath my chin.

This moment reminds me of my first month in the asylum; every night I'd have nightmares. But this is different; this is real… isn't it?

I open my eyes without thinking and scream as I see the mouldy brown skin and featureless face in front of me.

…

"Adelaide, will you get up!"

My eyes snap open. A dream within a dream? Now, that's new. I sit up and rub my eyes; still slightly confused and actually rather afraid.

"Adelaide!"

"Alright, alright, I'm up!" I call back, sounding slightly irritated, "What's the time?"

"Half nine. Now, shift it!"

I comply and slip out of bed. I pad across the wooden flooring but hesitate before stepping into the bathroom. What if it was more than just a night mare? I ponder this possibility before pulling myself together. Taking a deep breath, I step forwards and open the door. As expected, there is nothing out of the ordinary in my bathroom. I honestly don't know what I was thinking, it was just a dream, of course it was. I console myself and switch the shower on.

In about twenty five minutes, I'm making my way down the stairs, adjusting my hoodie. Bill meets me half way.

"Amelie called."

I nod as he continues—

"She wondered whether you could go 'round."

I frown slightly, "Is something wrong?"

He shrugs, "She didn't sound too happy. Adele's probably giving her grief."

I smile, baby Adele- now two months old- definatly has a good set of lungs in her. I look at Bill expectantly. He sighs before speaking—

"Yes, you can go. Just don't be too long."

I smile in thanks.

"I'll need a lift."

It's the truth, Amelie and George live about five miles out of the small village.

"Rob's somewhere nearby, wait for him to finish then get him to take you up there." He says with a careless wave of his hand.

I continue on my way.

()()()()()()()()

"So, why did Amelie want to see you?"

Rob pulls over to let another car past and turns to me. I shrug.

"I don't know, probably something to do with Adele." I say, looking out the window and across the moors, "Thanks for the lift by the way." I say, as an afterthought.

"No problem." He says as we pull up outside of the house.

I notice an odd looing van parked a few metres away and turn to see Rob glancing curiously at the vehicle before nodding towards the house.

"Off you go, don't keep her waiting."

I smile my thanks and slip out of the car. Rob pulls away as I head forwards, having not noticed that the door was a jar before, I frown and tilt my head slightly in confusion.

"Amelie?" I call, pushing open the door.

There's no answer.

"Everything alright?" My voice has lowered to a hushed whisper as I step into the hallway.

Everything is still silent. Apart from, I notice, the sound of a child crying from upstairs.

"Adele." I realise.

This makes up my mind. I walk towards the stairs, slightly cautious and once again call for Amelie. The only sound I can hear is Adele's cries. I try to walk as confidently as possible up the stairs. I however stop when my name is spoken from behind me. I recognise the voice and my blood runs cold.

"Adelaide," I spin around and face him, the man of my nightmares, "You're a difficult one to track down."

He looks me up and down, assessing me, and I take a few more steps backwards, clinging on to the banister as though it's a lifeline.

"How do you know my name?" I enquire, trying to sound calm, but my voice wavers.

He takes a step up.

"I need you to come with me."

For a few seconds I just stand there, staring at him, before I gather myself up and take more steps back. I'm on the landing now, a few metres from Adele's room. She is still crying.

"Where's Amelie?"

It is then that the woman in question is forced out of the kitchen and is pushed, heavily, into view by a large brute of a man. I look at her, pity filling every inch of my soul, she looks absolutely terrified.

"Of course," The Masters voice slices through my thoughts, "Mrs Partridge was never in any danger, we just wanted to scare her."

I raise a questioning eyebrow.

"Do you know what humans do when they're scared, Adelaide."

I stay silent.

"They tell all."

"What are you?" I ask, sounding more confident than I felt.

"I am Priminister." He states simply.

I turn to see two bulky me standing behind me. The Master continues—

"And as the ruler of the country, I like to keep an eye on the population and you, my dear, are an anomaly," he pauses for effect, "Much like your three friends that are running around my country somewhere."

_Three friends_ that means he knows that they are alive. My heart and spirits lift slightly; If I can find The Doctor, then all of this can be sorted out.

"You know where they are?" I ask.

"No," He sighs, seemingly disappointed, "We just know they're about somewhere. Something that I'm sure you know about. You see," he takes another step towards me, a patronising glare evident on his features, "They were smart enough to run, something you should have done a long time ago."

This is the last sentence I hear before someone grabs my hair and tilts my head violently to the right. I struggle as something cold and sharp is pressed into the side of my neck. My head rolls forward as I am overcome by darkness.

**Sorry for the slightly longer wait. As always, tell me what you think.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Times Change**

**AN: A big thanks to Kie 1993 and . for reviewing the last chapter.**

**Okay, so I've just realised that I have completely messed up the timing, hence the little change to an earlier chapter as well as this one. Sorry 'bout that.**

**DISCLAIMER: I still do not own Doctor Who.**

Chapter 9-

Darkness is all I see when I open my eyes. I think I'm upright, but it's hard to tell when everything is black. I make to pull my hands from behind my back but find that they are bound together, my ankles are the same. A cool feeling floods through my shirt; metal. I am tied to a post. Biting my lip in an attempt to keep calm, I fiddle with the rope at my wrists; trying to break free. It is then that I feel rough fabric graze my cheek and the darkness is lifted away. My sight blurs for a few seconds and I blink several times to regain my senses; a dark grey, concrete floor stretches out before me, ending at a slightly darker wall. I turn my head to the left and spot large crates filled with something unknown. I sigh and lay my head back onto the metal pole; I shut my eyes and take several deep breaths.

My eyes snap open as something hard hits my upper arm. I look down to where the medium sized pebble has landed at my feet.

"Hello?" I frown at the sudden movement.

Another pebble hits my thigh from the other side and I snap my attention to the right.

"Hey?"

A grey stone narrowly misses hitting my nose and I push my head back into the metal, eyes wide. Another stone hits my lower back from behind and I shriek in surprise.

"Who's there?" I call over my shoulder.

It is then that the onslaught of pebbles and stones fly through the air, many hitting my arms and legs. I keep my head down in an attempt to protect my face as another wave of round rocks come from each direction. I let out a high pitched scream as another stone connects with my side, a crack emanates from my ribs and I choke as air is forced from my lungs. Blood hits the floor as I cough violently, I don't even remember my face being hit. The world spins as another, smaller stone connects with my forehead, I feel a cut form just above my left eyebrow. It is then that the violent outburst halts and silence fills the room. I'm sobbing hard which is difficult and hurts as my chest and lungs heave. The pain makes me sob more and for a minute, it seems that I am, once again, alone in the room.

That is until the sound of footsteps echo from behind me, I have no energy to lift my head and see who it is who seems to be inspecting me; the person circles me for a minute or two, I can feel their eyes bore into my skull as I continue to look at the small puddle of crimson liquid by my feet through my tear-drenched eyes.

"Look up." The order comes from the person in front of me.

I don't move a muscle; petrified by my fear. I've dreamt this and it scares me deeply.

"Sir, I—"Someone from behind me begins to speak but is cut off by the person in front of me.

"I want to see her face."

A hand grasps my chin and forces me to look up.

"Now, that's better isn't it?" The man questions snidely whilst rubbing the blood roughly of off my chin with a pale hanker-chief.

I just stare up at him, at a loss for words. He is still holding my chin as he tilts my face from side to side; scrutinizing me.

"You look a little upset, my dear." He states, clearly feigning concern.

Again, I say nothing; too exhausted to speak. He solves this problem.

"Where is he?"

I look into his dark eyes, they show no emotion. I have no idea what he's talking about.

"C'mon, you've been looking for him for months. It's been almost four now, hasn't it? Poor you, all alone in a strange place, how have you been keeping?"

I try to lower my gaze from him but his hold on my chin forces me to keep eye contact.

"Adelaide," How does he know my name? "I'm not a very patient man."

The way he speaks sends shivers down my spine and I close my eyes tightly. I hear him sigh and I open my eyes as he lowers his head towards mine, his face merely millimetres away.

"Tell me."

"Who are you?" I manage to say, evading his irritant questioning, pretending that I haven't got a clue.

In all honesty I haven't, I know his name, of course, but who or what he is is a complete mystery.

"Oh," He stands in a flourish, "How very rude of me, we haven't been introduced. I'm The Master."

He stops and looks over my shoulder, presumably at the man who spoke before.

"Cut her lose." He orders.

There are several sounds of shuffling before I hear breathing near my ear; someone is behind me. The ropes that bind my feet are loosened first and I tiredly click my ankles, regaining feeling in my feet. The man then moves to my wrists. I lean forward inch by inch as the bonds become looser and looser before finally, they are gone. I fall to the ground hard. A pained whimper escapes my lips and I clutch my side. Looking up, I see The Master kneel before me. He tilts his head to the side and pouts.

"I'm sorry, did that hurt?"

I merely groan in reply.

"So, you're telling me that although you have been looking for him for almost four months, you have no idea where he could be."

He rolls me over slowly and studies my face.

"Who?" I choke out.

He stands, "Why, your little timelord friend."

He leans forwards so that he is standing over me.

"He's been causing me a lot of trouble."

I'm scared, bewildered and in an immense amount of pain and so I have no words to say. I merely lay there, staring up at the ceiling; willing myself somewhere else.

He tuts, "Addie Q," I wince at the use of my old nickname, "I merely want to make sure that he is no longer a danger to himself and others around him." I feel him smirk, "You're very familiar with that phrase aren't you?"

A tear falls from the corner of my eye, though I'm not sure whether it's from the pain or the realisation of the complete hopelessness of my situation.

"N'aw." He pouts again, "Smile, worse things happen at sea."

His expression then turn's grave as he, once again, speaks to the man behind me—

"Pick her up; take her to the med bay."

Someone grabs my collar and hauls me off the ground. I bite back a scream of agony as I'm dragged from the room.

**Any good? Please take a few seconds out of your day to review, it would mean a lot.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Times Change**

**AN: Thanks to animemonkey13 and Kie 1993 for your reviews on last chapter.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Doctor Who.**

Chapter 10-

My head is foggy as I try to sit up. I'm used to waking up in a slightly damp room with dark walls and so the bright white of my TARDIS bedroom takes me by surprise as I blink, trying to adjust to the light. Hang on a minute.

TARDIS bedroom?

This is my room, on the TARDIS.

I look around. Yeah, definatly my room.

I pull the violet coloured sheets off of me and slide out of bed. The mirror opposite shows that I am still in my hoodie and leggings from the day before. I frown; so, the whole thing was a dream? My heart lifts at the thought; no Rakoli, no teleport, no Master, no stoning. A sigh of pure relief escapes my lips and I wander over to the desk in the corner of the room. I run my hand along the pale wood and smile contently. There's a small trinket box at the corner of the desk. I remember collecting it once on one of my travels. I pick it up and study it.

It is then that it hits me; there's no noise, no tell-tale sound of the TARDIS engines. I place the small box down; curious, and make my way towards the door. Something isn't right, I know it. I step forward and make to punch in my number for the door but before I have even typed in the first number, the door slides open. I shuffle backwards quickly at the sight of The Master. A slightly nervous looking blonde woman follows behind him. The door slides shut behind them. I hear it lock.

"Addie Q!" The Master spreads his arm out wide.

I have a feeling that he's going to keep calling me that.

"Harry," The woman holds his upper arm, "Is she safe?"

I scowl at her, of course I'm safe. What does she think I am?

"No." He says, "I'm not sure she is."

The Master smirks, enjoying the fact that I am seriously un-comfortable.

"Don't worry; we'll break her in soon enough."

Break me in?

"Oh," The Master smacks his forehead in an exaggerated motion, "I almost forgot. Have you seen the news?"

He speaks into a silver ear piece in his left ear—

"Bring it in."

I frown slightly in confusion before a young man, probably about my age, enters, pulling a trolley with a television on it.

"I only ask, because you're on it."

I'm not sure what he means by this but I know that it can't be good. The Master takes a remote from the man and dismisses him before taking a space on the dark sofa a few metres away. He grins at me and pats the space beside him, indicating that I should sit. I do so, rather hesitantly. The blonde woman stands behind him and winds an arm around his shoulders.

He presses 'play' on the remote and grins as a picture of himself flashes on the screen, standing in front of downing street.

I merely roll my eyes.

"_My friends, I would like to explain to you all why today is a good day. Today,"_ Pause for effect, "_We found the missing link, the anomaly in the operation which surrounds the Jack Harkness murders. An accomplice of the man himself, Miss Adelaide Quinn."_

An image of my face appears on screen.

"_Now, I know that most of you watching will never have heard of her, but I can guarantee that one little village in the south of Cornwall knows different. I can also guarantee that those who kept her hidden will be punished."_

My face suddenly pales at the sound of that sentence as a satisfied giggle comes from the blonde woman beside me. I don't bother looking at her_._

"_The point that I am trying to make, is this; you, my people, can rest assured, that the country is a safer place tonight."_

The video stops and the screen goes black. It's all very dramatic. I stand up as The Master asks—

"So, what do you think?"

I say nothing.

"I personally like the charming smile at the end." He says to himself.

I still don't speak. He peels the blonde off of him and stands. He pulls an offended expression.

"You mean that I went through all of the trouble to get someone to drag this set up to your room and you have absolutely nothing to say."

He steps closer, "Nothing at all."

I give into his taunting—

"You said that the village would be punished?"

"Yes." He nods, the smile never leaving his face.

"You're going to kill them." A lump appears in my throat as I think of the massive amount of danger that I have placed others, my friends, in.

I can practically feel the blood on my hands.

He nods.

"Everyone?" I enquire, thinking about Amelie and Adele.

"Everyone." He confirms, almost whispering.

I can't stand any longer. I step backwards and lean on the wall for support, all the time unable to take my eyes off of the man in front of me.

"Why?" I manage to choke out.

"Hmmm," he pretends to think, "Because I can!" He states, almost gleeful.

"But you can't."

He stares at me, indulging in my grief before saying—

"My country, my rules. You see, I have to set an example, Addie Q." He smirks as I cringe.

He knows that I hate him calling me that. In fact, as I lean against the wall I realise that he knows so much about me, and I've only been here a night. I have no idea how he knows about everything. He just does.

And that scares me.

**Okay, here's another chapter, my lovelies. A bit shorter than some others but I hope it suffices. **

**Keep reading, keep reviewing and I shall see you next time.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Times Change**

**AN: A great big thank-you to both animemonkey13 and Kie 1993 for their kind words throughout most of this fic. It means a great deal.**

**Thank-you to Shadows in the moon (Have to put spaces in, sorry) for reviewing the last chapter.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Doctor Who.**

Chapter 11-

Sitting at a large wooden dining table, I stare at him, bypassing the deep oak wood and the large plates that were piled with food. I hadn't seen nor heard from him for months and now, all of a sudden, he would like to have dinner with me?

He gestures for the cooks to leave the room and I take this time to look around the place. It's a medium sized room, the only furniture being the table and chairs of which surround it, the flooring is a deep, almost red wood. If I'm honest, it would look quite grand, were it not for the dull grey walls and ceiling with I single light bulb hanging from a thin piece of wire just above our heads. It looks as though someone had started to re-decorate and the just gave up, forgetting to paint the walls or to add any other pleasantries.

He leans his elbows on the table and entwines his fingers, leaning forward as he speaks—

"So, Addie Q,"

He smirks as I look away.

"How have you enjoyed your stay so far?"

I wish that I have something prepared in my mind, some sort of witty answer to give, like The Doctor would probably do but I have nothing, I say nothing.

The Master sighs as he leans back in his chair.

"Should have picked up a talkative one," He turns to me and looks from the corner of his eye, "You're no fun."

"Sorry to disappoint." Is the best thing I can come up with and although I'm proud of myself for saying something (I have not spoken to anyone for some time) I can't quite force myself to look up and meet his eye.

He says naught but begins to eat. I stare blankly at the large roast that has been placed before me.

"The lamb is especially good." He says between mouthfuls.

I frown slightly and look at my hands which are resting on my lap. For about fifteen minutes, silence fills the room. One, of which, I find awkward; although I'm sure he's not bothered at all.

"Master, she is not eating." A metallic, female voice sounds from behind me.

I turn as the Master looks up. A Toclafane drifts in the air, a few metres behind my head. Unintentionally, I glare at it. The Master huffs.

"You, young lady, are very ungrateful." He gestures to the table of food, "I go through all of the trouble of telling someone to order the kitchen staff to make this meal, and you don't eat it?"

The madman look soon disappears from his face and he glares as he speaks his next sentence—

"We're not leaving the room until your plate is empty."

For a moment we are both silent. I consider being stubborn and refusing to eat but a low groan in the pit of my stomach proves that I am, in fact, hungry. The Master grins widely as a pick up my fork, daintily spooning a few peas and sticking them into my mouth.

"There," he says, a satisfied look in his eyes, "That wasn't too difficult was it?"

I shake my head and quietly spoon some more peas. He looks down and begins to carve another large piece of meat from his plate. And, momentarily forgetting the Toclafane behind me, I take the opportunity to pick the knife from the table and place it behind my back in my seat. I haven't thought this plan through, which to anyone else, would be obvious, but I'm willing to work with what ever I am given and right now, I have a very sharp object in my hand and my kidnapper, blissfully un-aware to my actions, sitting in front of me. As I said, I had forgotten the Toclafane.

"Master, she intends to hurt you!"

My head snaps up as I feel my face turn pale as a sheet. The Master has frozen, I'd say that he looks shocked, he clearly hadn't expected this. That damn Toclafane! He places his cutlery down in a solitary way before standing. His head tilts to one side.

"What?"

I look up at him, unable to believe my own stupidity.

"Stand." The anger is evident in his voice and I do so without hesitation.

He leans slightly to side and sees the small blade lying on the leather of the dinning chair. My heart stops as he raises an eyebrow.

"Do you think I'm stupid?"

I won't point out the fact that he would have had no idea, had it not been for his little sphere friend.

I shake my head.

"Do I look stupid?" He yells, fury evident in his voice.

He comes at me quickly, clearing the length of the room in four, easy strides. He grabs a hold of my wrist and pins me to the wall. I don't think that I have ever been this afraid in my life.

"I'm curious, Adelaide."

My lower lip trembles.

"You see, I seem clueless as to what you would have done after killing me. How would you have gotten past my dear friend over there?" He gestures to the robot hovering a few metres to the left of us, "Hmm?"

I say nothing, not entirely sure of the answer, myself. He pulls a hand from my wrist and brings it up, level to the right side of my face. He begins to tap a quick, four beat rhythm by my ear.

"That's the problem with humans; so impulsive."

I stare at him, confused. So, he's not human? I put off asking this question as his voice rises all the more, his face gets closer to mine and his grip on my wrist begins to hurt.

"No idea of the consequences of your actions!"

I flinch backwards before realising that I am, In fact, as far into the wall as I can get.

"Do you know why you're still alive, Addie Q?"

I hate the look on his face when he calls me that.

"No idea?" is his response to my silence, "Anything?"

He smiles cruelly, "It's because I thought he'd come for you. Turns out I was wrong." He shrugs half-heartedly, "Never mind, can't be right all the time I suppose."

My shoulders slump and I look at the ground; his first sentence has hit me like a mallet.

And with that, he releases his grip on me, taps one last rhythm and leaves the room, the Toclafane disappears with him and I'm left to ponder his last few sentences alone. I stand there; completely limp until I am taken back to my room.

**Three reviews and the next chapter will be up as soon as possible!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Times Change**

**AN: Thank-you to animemonkey13, Kie 1993, Shadows in the moon and stargazer0909 for reviewing the last chapter.**

**Hope you guys enjoy this chapter.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Doctor Who.**

Chapter 12-

It's been a few months since I have seen him, good riddance. Although, he has very much succeeded in planting a small seed of doubt in my head; where was The Doctor? In all reality it's probably a selfish thought, for surely if he were to come here then he would be hurt himself. Still, knowing this doesn't stop the negative feelings from coursing through my veins.

I know what day it is and I refuse to celebrate, not that I'd be able to anyway. I just sit on my bed, legs crossed, staring at my reflection. I run my pointer finger along the scar above my eyebrow, memories of the stoning flash through my mind and blink, rapidly dispersing them. The sound of the door to my left unlocking alerts me to someone's presence. I don't even look their way. The door shuts and silence fills the room, although, I can see a figure out of the corner of my eye. Turning my head slightly, I see the same young man who brought in the TV set all those weeks ago. He looks at me, slightly nervous.

"Can I help you?" My tone could slice through rock.

"You are to come with me." Is his answer.

I nod and stand up, not even bothering to protest, and follow him from the room.

A few minutes later, we arrive at our destination, having never been to this part of the building, I'm curious.

"Just in there." He points to a door ahead of us; his tone of voice is almost apologetic.

What does he know that I don't?

()()()()()()()()()

My palm rests flat against the cool glass as I rest forward. Relying on the large window to hold me up. In fact, my face is so close to the glass that it has steamed up. I get the feeling that I am high up, perhaps looking down into a large room. Once again, I'm alone. Only this time, I'm in a medium sized white room, the brightness of the furniture contrasts with the dull blackness of the world through the window. The sound of a door sliding open catches my senses, but I don't move.

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to Addie Q," the sound of my old nickname makes me spin on my heels and glare at the man that I have come to hate.

The Master frowns. He carries a rather large chocolate cake with a single candle in the middle of the icing on top. He stops swaying to his song and speaks—

"Not in a very cheery mood, my dear?"

He's mocking me, I know it.

"Well then," He shrugs and places the plate on a small table a few metres away. Picking up a thick slice he says—

"If you're going to be ungrateful."

I watch as he takes a bite from the slice and raises an eyebrow.

"Waste not, want not."

I stay where I am, glaring daggers at him.

"Oh," he fakes offence, "You really aren't in a good mood today," he wags a finger in my direction, "No presents for you."

He turns his head and pauses, watching me menacingly from the corner of his eye.

"Then again, it wouldn't make much difference. You have little experience of gifts."

I swallow, trying to ignore his intense insulting and dig my nails into my palm.

"Bless your parents." He says, standing and rubbing his hands together, crumbs fall to the pale table as he once again picks up the plate.

He walks over to me and waves it in front of my face.

"You sure I can't tempt you?"

Even If I wanted a slice, I wouldn't have been able to take it for he spun on his heels and moved the plate away quickly.

"Fine," he says, "Your loss."

He stops by the door on his way out and speaks—

"I'll see you tonight for your special birthday surprise."

There's something about the way he says that sentence that makes my blood run cold.

And I'm just left, in the room, to contemplate what on earth he was talking about.

()()()()()()()()()()

About two hours later (Although, it seemed longer) the door opens once again. Revealing two brutish armed guards. One, a slightly taller one, picks me up off of the ground, drags me from the corner of where I was sitting and binds my hands behind me back. Now, this really is new; of all my months here, apart from the stoning, I have never been bound.

This really doesn't bode well.

I stumble as I'm pushed through the door and receive a thump on my upper back, presumably by the butt of a gun. Bewildered as to what on earth was going on, I concede and go which way I am ordered. A lift takes us upwards and opens into a larger room. A deep red carpet covers the floor and the walls are lined with cameras, the only furniture being a large chair in the centre, of which The Master sits.

"Ah, and here she is!" he stands tall. It takes a second for me to realise that he is talking to the cameras, "Our dear Addie Q."

I stare at him, noticing the bronze cylinder that he holds in his right hand. He beckons me forward. I don't move. I do, however, shuffle ahead after another hard hit smacks my back.

"Kneel." The Master says as I stand before him, "Face the cameras."

After a bit of painful persuasion, I kneel where he wants me to, facing the cameras as he says.

"Head down."

I do so, this time without hesitation. Fear races through my body like a fire as The Master circles me.

"So, here she is. What do you think, Doctor?" I resist raising my head at the sound of his name, "She's done well."

An uneasy silence fills the air before my hair at the back of my head is grasped and I'm forced to look up. I bit my lip to stop a whimper escaping my lips as pain ripples through my scalp.

"Any messages for our friend? He's bound to be watching."

I say nothing whilst trying to struggle from his grip; this only forces his fist to tighten.

"I propose a swap. How's that sound?"

This is the first time I realise that millions of people will be watching this and I tense in humiliation.

"A little birthday gift for young Addie Q, here."

He laughs as I screw my face up in distaste.

"She really does hate me calling her that." He releases my hair and stands in front of me, "So, how about it, _Doctor?_ Can't wait to see your new face."

He stays silent for a few seconds, before piping up again—

"Hyde Park. You have two hours."

He steps closer to the camera.

"I hope to see you then."

He switches it off and turns to me with a flourish before kneeling in front of me. Tilting my face up to look at his he says—

"Come on, we're going on a trip. You're going to love it!"

**Just a quick question; Christmas special with Addie Q? What do you guys think?**


	13. Chapter 13

**Times Change**

**AN: A big thank you to SarBrook, animemonkey13 and Kie 1993 for reviewing the last chapter.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Doctor Who.**

Chapter 13-

I can feel his eyes on me.

He's smirking, just out of my line of sight, laughing inwardly at me.

I look away, forcing myself not to give him the satisfaction of knowing he's making me uncomfortable.

Right now, I'm sitting next to him in a swish-looking black car. The same sort of one of which I saw outside the Partridge's home months back. My heart sinks as images of the family and friends that I had gained flash through my memory. The Master had never told me what he had done to them, and I didn't ask. In all honesty, I don't think that I want to know; without the confirmation, I am able to hope that they are still alright, that perhaps The Master had been bluffing when he had promised to punish them, he hadn't actually done it?

One look into his cold eyes told me different. He didn't tell me because he knew that I was aware that he wasn't the sort to make empty threats, no, he had done it, no care in the world.

I force those thoughts to sink back, deep into my subconscious, burying them. Instead, I look out of the window. I'd guess that we were driving through London, or what was left of it anyway. The tall skyscrapers were now no more than five or six stories in height, their upper levels left to crumble into disrepair, the roads are dusted with dirt and grime and even the air looks grey. The streets are still bustling with life though. Just a different 'life' to what anyone would imagine of London; make shift stalls line the pathways, scruffy-looking men man them, shouting all types of offers, trying to sell anything they could. Tired women walk among them, some holding babies with children beside them, others are alone. The sight is awful to behold and I turn to see The Master, eyes closed, perfectly relaxed. He doesn't care that he has destroyed a once beautiful city, he doesn't care that he has ruined so many lives with his gluttony and betrayal. I can't watch him for long, for hatred boils inside me and, unable to turn back to the street outside, I stare at my lap and begin fiddling with the hem of my shorts or picking non-existent dust from my tights, anything but look up.

My head slowly lolls forward as the monotony of driving tires me, it's been about an hour so far and I'm not sure as to how long there is left of the journey, although, The Master only gave The Doctor two hours, so, it shouldn't be too long now. Thinking about The Doctor makes me wonder whether he will come at all, and even if he does, what happens then? This is the last thought that passes through my mind before I drift into an uneasy sleep.

His mocking voice sounds close to my ear as I awake—

"Come on, Addie Q. We're here."

I turn to glare at him and he is seemingly un-fazed. A teasing smirk quirks the corners of his mouth before he slides out of the car. I make to move and frown as my wrists are stiff and unmoving. I glance down and groan, noticing that my hands are, in fact, handcuffed together, making it difficult for me to open my door. Eventually I manage it and stumble out of the vehicle. Almost immediately, the collar of my shirt is grabbed and I am hauled forward.

Wet drizzle dampens my hair as I walk through two iron gates. The Master is two or so metres ahead of myself and whoever is escorting me as we walk along a path that looks as though it was once lined with trees, although they are still standing, the plants are old and withered. I wonder for a moment as to why The Master picked this spot. The man in question walks towards a large fountain, long since dry. Stuffing his hand is his pocket he waits for the two of us, straggling behind, to catch up. He does a dramatic glance at his watch and sighs as he takes in the supposed 'fresh air.'

"Seventeen minutes."

He rocks back and forth on the balls of his feet and glances around. Like a friend would eagerly wait for another.

"Addie Q," He's seriously over doing that now, "Be a dear, and stand right there."

He points to a spot a few metres ahead of him. I oblige, not wanting to anger him.

There was no chance, before leaving, to put a jacket on and I shiver as my arms and collar bone slowly become wetter. As I blink, rain droplets fall from my eye lashes, I awkwardly wipe them away, just about avoiding hitting myself in the face with my conjoined hand whilst doing so. There would be utter silence in the air, if it was not for The Master's rather tuneless whistling that echoes from behind me. He counts down the minutes before he does goodness knows what to me and I know that he is taking great pleasure in my discomfort.

"Two minutes."

He can't see my face and so I cringe in fear. This appears to be the last resort; if this doesn't succeed in bringing The Doctor to London then I am of no use to him anymore. Suddenly, the annoying whistling stops and for a second I wonder whether my time is up. I continue to stare at my feet until a new voice fills the empty air—

"Master." It is a bitter greeting. Made by a voice that I have come to know so well.

I look up and smile at The Doctor. It is, of course, bittersweet, but none the less, it is the first time I've smiled in months. I look at his posture; he stands tall, chin set, hands by his sides.

"You are so predictable." I feel a presence behind me, a hand grasps my shoulder tightly, "Given a choice between his own life- as the one who is able to save the universe- and the little girls," he pinches my cheek, at which point I pull away, "The Doctor's gone the wrong way, again."

The Doctor doesn't look at me but stares The Master straight in the eye. The two are silent.

"Let her go." An American voice fills the empty atmosphere; Jack.

I glance behind The Doctor to see both Jack and Gwen, no guns in sight, and three people I don't recognise; two men and a woman.

"Oh, you brought the whole clan, along with my favourite little _freak_." The man beside me sneers at Jack as he speaks the last word.

My capture changes the subject—

"You're lucky; you got here just in time." He stands behind me both hands on my shoulders, "Who knows what could have happened had you been late." He suddenly slaps both shoulders, making me jump slightly. He laughs in my ear before turning back to the group in front of us, "Although, have to hand it to our little girly here, she's been very brave. Stupid, but brave."

"You said a swap." The Doctor speaks up again; no emotion is evident in his voice.

"Ah, yes. The brave companion for the ridiculous, bow-tie wearing fool." He smirks before once again, speaking into my ear—

"Well, it has been fun. I'll probably see you soon, _Adelaide."_ He pushes me forcefully forwards and I stumble, only just managing to be caught by one of the unnamed men.

I turn back to see that The Doctor is already accepting his handcuffs. I try to struggle free from the vice-like grip that the stranger has on me, but to no avail. The Master smirks, locking his eyes with mine before turning and leaving the area, The Doctor is man-handled away soon after.

**Any words of wisdom from you guys? Remember, constructive criticism is always welcome.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Times Change**

**AN: A big thank you to both animemonkey13 and Kie 1993 for their reviews for the last chapter.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Doctor Who.**

Chapter 14-

"Jack!" I yell, urgently trying to struggle free, "You can't just let this happen!"

He turns to me about to speak but I cut him off, desperation is setting in.

"No, you have to do something. _Please,_ do something!"

The American looks at me, sorrow filling every inch of his face.

"Owen," He speaks softly to the man holding me, "Get her in the car."

And with that, he walks past me, towards the exit of the park. I call after him again and again, trying to make him see sense. I kick the air as my feet are lifted from the ground. I scream in frustration and maintain my struggling.

"Alright, calm down. We need to get you looked at." A slightly strained voice says in my ear- Owen, I assume.

He stands still for a minute, waiting patiently for my slightly erratic episode to pass. I can see Gwen from the corner of my eye; she looks mournfully at me but doesn't speak a word. I have kicked Owen's shins and knees more times than I can count before I finally give up; exhausted. The grip on my waist loosens but my knees seem to buckle beneath me and once again, I'm hoisted back onto my feet, supported by him.

"Come on, let's get you somewhere dry."

I hadn't noticed it until now, but the rain is a lot heavier. _Very symbolic_ I note dryly. Looking around, I get a sense of just how empty the area is, there is no sign of any life other than myself, Gwen and Owen. The fountain ahead is lonely and desolate, the sky dark. It must be nearing dusk.

I manage to walk to the car- a large, black four by four- my hands are still bound and it is at this moment that I realise that The Master never handed the keys over. I ball my hands into fists in frustration and grit my teeth, anger and distress building deep within me. I watch the grey pavement roll by beneath my feet as I walk and shake my head lightly, droplets of rain water fall to the ground as I do so. A hand touches my upper arm; I turn to my left to see Gwen with me. Neither of us says a word as we make our way out of the park, but her presence is comforting.

About two hours later, I'm sitting on a high stool, waiting for the cuffs to come undone. Owen is fiddling with a makeshift lock pick, trying to unlock my metal bonds. A blanket is wrapped around my shoulders and I find myself staring around the large warehouse type building that I am now in. I have many questions but I'm not sure how to voice them. I open my mouth and have a go—

"Uh," I pause, piecing my next sentence together in my head, Owen looks up for a millisecond, indicating that he heard me, "Is that Jack, " I indicate to the America about ten metres away, "Your Jack or my Jack?"

He pauses and looks up, eyebrow raised. I try to explain—

"I sort of figured that I'd been transported to an alternate reality. So, realistically, there should be two Jacks. Am I right?"

He nods, a bemused expression on his face.

"That's 'your Jack' as you put it. 'Our Jack' is somewhere about… somewhere."

I would inquire as to what he meant but as I open my mouth to speak, one side of the cuffs clicks open.

"Gotcha." He mutters

"So, there are two Jacks and two Gwens, yeah?"

Owen seems to freeze and his grip on my wrist tightens. At once I know that I have said something wrong. He swallows and speaks without looking up.

"No, just 'your Gwen' now."

I think I understand this statement and so I do not press it any further. A lump rises in my throat and I have to cough awkwardly to get rid of it. The two of us remain silent until a triumphant _"Done"_ escape his lips. I smile as I wind my wrist around in a circle, trying to get the feeling back, I wince as each makes a loud clicking sound. Owen drops the handcuffs onto a small metal table as I slide from the stall. He gives me a small smile and I thank him.

"Jack said he wanted a word. I'll take you to him."

I slouch slightly on the opposite side of the desk to Jack. Neither of us has spoken yet. It seems that he is assessing me, really trying to see if I'm alright.

"Where's the scar from?" He indicates above his eyebrow.

Out of habit, I run my finger along slightly raised scar.

"It's nothing." I say, not knowing why I'm evading him, I turn my head away.

Silence follows but it is soon broken as the sound of something being placed on Jack's desk grabs my attention. I turn to see that he has placed The Doctor's sonic and psychic paper on the dark wood. I stare at the two objects for a matter of seconds, trying to understand what on earth they are doing there. I turn around fully and pick up the screwdriver, for some reason, it is a comfort to hold. Smiling contently, I lean back into my chair.

"He gave you these?" I ask.

Jack nods, "He said we'd need them."

My heart suddenly lifts as a seed of a plan is planted firmly in my head.

"So, we can help him?"

My brain is bustling with ideas now—

"The paper can get us in and-"

"Calm down." Jack says, I frown at him for bursting my energetic bubble, he continues—

"You need some rest. Tosh," (he says the name with great admiration) "Is setting up a room now. We can't risk you leaving the hub for now; god knows what he did to you."

I open my mouth to protest, to tell him that I am fine, but a voice at the door cuts me off.

"I hear two teas are in order."

I turn to see a man standing in the doorway holding two mugs, he wears a suit with a light blue tie.

"Thank you…?" I say, taking the smaller mug from him.

"Ianto." He replies with a warm smile before seeing the object in my hand, "I take it she knows?"

"Yes, she was very happy with the idea." Jack states brightly.

I smile before placing the sonic back on the desk and taking a sip of tea.

**Perhaps a couple more reviews for this one?**

**Next chapter may take a little longer to get up.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Times Change**

**AN: Thank you to animemonkey13, Kie 1993 and Shadows in the moon for their reviews on the last chapter.**

**There is a lot of dialogue in this chapter, sorry about that.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Doctor Who.**

Chapter 15-

I'm wandering down the set of stairs that lead to the main area of the hub when my name is called. I turn to Jack, who is standing in the doorway of his office. Being in a slightly better mood after finding out that the American and his group had a plan, I answer him chirpily—

"Yeah?"

He leans on the door frame to his left.

"You know how to use a gun?"

I frown in slight confusion before shaking my head. He beckons me towards him.

"Follow me."

There is a playful look in his eyes and I can't help but smile as I follow him down a nearby corridor.

We walk through a large iron-like door and I peek through, over Jacks shoulder; a wide and long corridor stretches out before us, the end is too dark to see and so I guess that the room stretches out pretty far. Four tables are a few metres ahead of us; a wide array of different weapons lay on them. I almost freeze at the sight of them; having never used a gun before (One of the many things on my 'never done' list) I fall slightly nervous at the sight of them.

He laughs lightly.

"You alright?"

I nod as I step into the room behind him and close the door. Jack's already over by the first table and is holding out a pistol. I move forward and gingerly take it from him.

()()()()()()()()()

Three hours later and the two of us make our way back to the hub. I am now more comfortable in using a weapon, turns out that my aim isn't bad either. The smell of pizza catches my senses and I turn the corner to see the rest of the group tucking into two, rather large looking pizzas. Pepperoni by the smell of it. I perch myself on the desk beside Gwen and send a smile her way, a smile of which she barely returns.

Jack has already told me how quiet she has been since finding out that she is no longer alive in this timeline. Her reaction is understandable, of course, and I wish I knew what to say to make her feel better. I look awkwardly down at my feet before breaking the silence. I speak with feigned cheer—

"So, what's the plan?"

Ianto clears the plates away and Tosh beckons me towards her computer.

"Blueprints for the whole building." She points to the screen.

I look between the group, "What building is this."

Owen snorts, "You were held there for how long?"

"Long enough." I answer, not really understanding his point.

"And you have no idea as to what building you were in?"

I shake my head, a blank expression on my face. Jack sheds some light on the situation—

"Buckingham Palace."

I frown, "And where's the queen?"

The group shrugs although Ianto answers my question properly—

"She left the country, apparently."

I raise my eyebrows before turning back to Tosh and the computer screen.

"We'll enter here,"

"That's the main gate." I state the obvious.

"And, we have psychic paper." Owen matches my tone of voice and I glare at him before motioning for the woman beside me to continue.

"The Doctor will most likely be in a chamber here," (she points to a set of rooms below ground) "We'll get down there, posting one person at each section door, Jack will take out the guards and get him out."

I bite my lip; this is bigger than anything I have ever done before. Jack, upon seeing my slightly paled face, holds my shoulder, saying—

"Don't worry, it'll work. It's fool proof… probably." He finishes with a joking grin.

"But they'll know who we are." I gesture to myself and Jack and Gwen.

Jack nods, "That's why Owen, Tosh and Ianto will head in first, and we'll follow soon after."

"You can get us in?"

Tosh shrugs, "Should be easy enough."

Picking up the final pizza slice, I nod, hopefully looking a mile more confident than I felt.

**Okay, this chapter was majorly short and I apologise for that. Next chapter will be up soon.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Times Change**

**AN: A big thank-you to Kie1993 and Shadows in the moon for reviewing so quickly.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Doctor Who.**

Chapter 16-

I am really not amused.

I slowly turn my head to glare at Jack through the trees. He's a few metres to my left.

Hard rain continues to batter the hood of my jacket and I, nervous as hell, check the ammo in my pistol for about the seventeenth time in less than fifteen minutes. We are waiting just outside of the area surrounding the building, waiting on one of the other members of the team to tell us that it's safe to proceed into the Palace. I glance to my right; Gwen is crouched, low to the ground, her hair is bedraggled and the collar of her leather jacket is pulled up so it rests just below her ears. She turns to me and nods, re-assuring me. I rest my head back against the bark, looking up through the leaves of the tree and up to the sky, there's a small break in the rain clouds and the odd star shines through the grey, I can't wait to get back up there, back to normality… well, normality for me anyway. I just pray to whatever gods exist that The Doctor is alright.

Finally, the voice I have been waiting to hear fills my ear through the comms link; it's Tosh—

"It's clear. You're going to have to come through the kitchen access, around the back of the building; we've cleared the area of guards but hurry!"

The three of us take to running, sprinting past dark, grey tarmac and the brown mulch that covers some of the ground. Mud splatters up the back of my legs as I run through a puddle, tightly following Jack through the dark, following his moves as closely as possible.

"Stop!"- A hushed but panicked whisper.

Jack wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me into the shadows of an outhouse nearby. I hold my breath as Gwen pushes herself against the wall beside me. A Toclafane glides effortlessly through the air, merely a few feet away. It is soon accompanied by two more and they all halt, grinding to a stop about two metres in the air. Jacks' breathing is ragged and low in my ear; his grip on his gun tightens, as does his grip on my waist. We wait for a painfully long time until the three robots finally move on, skulking away into the shadows of night.

"Everyone alright?" Jack asks.

Both Gwen and myself nod and I finally let out the breath of which I was holding.

"We need to keep moving."

Jack receives two more nods from myself and the woman beside me.

()()()()()()()()()()

The three of us continue to move through the pitch of night until we come across a door planted in the wall. It looks oddly out of place and is the only entry on this side of the palace.

"This one?" I ask, gesturing to the wooden entrance.

Jack shrugs, "Loos like."

We are reluctant to move from the safety of the shadows of which we dwell at the present moment. Because of this, we all scope around, trying to get a sense of the amount of safety we are in. There is no sound around, no tell-tale whirring of a Toclafane through the air, no squelching of muddy soldier's boots against the grass. This only succeeds in making the atmosphere more tense and I let out a shaky breath; gaining my senses and readying myself for the battle ahead. With one last check, we move off…

Only to freeze at the sight of the door opening, the dull light from the presumed kitchen illuminates our faces and I resist the urge to shrink back and mould myself into the shadows. The three of us freeze before Ianto's re-assuring welsh accent fills the air—

"Jack, Gwen, Adelaide?"

"Here." I reply before making my way forward.

Within a matter of seconds we are in the warm air of the kitchen area. I turn to my left and see two chefs and three waitresses tied together, bindings on their mouths. I frown, to which Owen states a simple reply—

"Insurance."

I nod, knowing that it's probably for the best. Tosh pulls the blueprints from a backpack on Ianto's shoulders and lays them on a table in the middle of the room. She indicates that we need to head down two flights of steps and make our way down a corridor, taking out guards and placing a member of the team on each door as we go; Ianto first, then Tosh, Gwen, Owen and me. Jack will then keep going and checking each chamber on his way. It's a tight plan and right now I'm pretty confident that it's going to work. Although, I realise that The Master is, in fact, probably cleverer than any of us in the room, he could be onto our plan right now. I push this though back into the depths of my subconscious and nod as Jack asks—

"Good, everyone ready?" He then turns to me, "Stay by my side, okay?"

"Sure."

Tosh rolls the blueprints back up and we head out of the room.

The walk- or rather, jog- down the stairs is pretty easy and successful. The area isn't as heavily guarded as I thought it would be and pretty soon, we are leaving Ianto, wishing him luck, and heading on our way.

Two guards down (I have yet to fire a shot) and we are leaving Tosh. She wishes us all good luck and sends a bright smile my way, one of which I return. We keep moving.

Next goes Gwen. Four guards down (I still haven't pulled the trigger)

"Jack, you be careful."

He nods before winking and planting a kiss in her hair. She touches my shoulder and smiles before we leave.

By the time we leave Owen I am shaking, partly from the adrenaline flowing like a hot river through my veins, partly because I think that this has all been way too easy; surely we should have been detected by now.

"Jack?" He turns, pausing mid-step, "I don't like this, it's been way too easy."

"Perhaps that's something we should be thankful for." He states softly, trying to calm me.

It's not really working. He sees this and touches my shoulder.

"Two doors to go and I'll be in the chamber. I'll get The Doctor out-"

"But, what about The Master?" I ask.

My fear of him grows by the second and just the mention of his name sends chills down my spine. Flashbacks of the stoning and verbal abuse enter my mind, the sheer terror becoming apparent the more I think of it all.

"Addie," he shakes me lightly, "Stop thinking about it, The Doctor will sort all of that out, you know he will, you know that."

I nod and take several deep breaths before walking forward and planting myself firmly by the door just before the entrance to the chambers of which Jack will be searching.

"It'll be fine." He says before kissing my hair.

This brings me some comfort as I say—

"Good luck."

He cocks his pistol, "You to."

And with a wink, he's gone. I suddenly feel very alone in the small corridor. I shift un-easily on my feet, eagerly awaiting the hopefully speedy arrival of Jack and The Doctor. I want to fill the empty un-nerving silence, but I refrain from whistling or humming. I lean back against the wall, my empty right hand begins to tap at the concrete and without realising, I begin to tap a rhythm of four. To immersed in my look out job, I continue. After a moment I realise what I am doing. Dragging myself from the wall in slight disgust, I shove my hand in the pocket of my jacket, forcing myself to stop tapping.

I face back whence I came although I am unable to see Owen as the corridor turns sharply to the left, cutting him from my visual. Footsteps echo from behind me and my heart lifts. I turn…

Only to be met with the fist of a tall, bulky soldier in black. I stumble backward and clutch my face, my nose is bleeding profusely and as I regain my balance a punch hits the side of my head, hard. I fall to the floor as darkness overwhelms me.

**Two updates in one night? I am on a roll!**

**Although- and it's a shame to say- that the next update may take a few days as I have GCSE's taking up my days and revision taking up my evenings until Wednesday. I will try and update as soon as possible though.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Times Change**

**AN: Thank-you to animemonkey13, Shadows in the moon and Kie 1993 for their comments on the last chapter.**

**Not really sure about this chapter, but we'll see how it goes.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Doctor Who.**

Chapter 17-

My head throbs and I groan loudly before rubbing the side of my face. A lump is forming there. Oh, brilliant. It is a few minutes before I realise that I am, in fact, lying on a table. I survey the dark oak as memories of the meal I shared with the Master flash through my mind. I am in the same room as that day, and I don't like it. I sit up and take in the dirty walls and deep coloured carpet once again. I refrain from growling in frustration and instead I slide from the table and make my way towards the large oak double doors. It's pointless, I know, but I check to see if it's locked. The door doesn't budge and I sigh as I rest my forehead against the cool wood.

Footsteps echo from the corridor on the other side of the deep wood. They get closer and I instinctively shrink back further into the room. The door is being unlocked from the other side and soon, it opens and with a flourish, he's in the room. That man I despise with all my being.

The Master.

Quick as a flash, I put the table in between the two of us, careful to not let him anywhere near me.

"What did I say, Addie Q?" He's quick to irritate me.

I merely glare at him.

"I said that we'd meet again, didn't i?" He gives me a patronising look as he leans on the opposite side of the table, palms flat on the wood.

"The Doctor's out." He states simply, "Your little group of friends managed it.

"Good." I say quickly.

He nods before slowly making his way around the right side of the table. I mirror his actions as he gets closer. The Master tilts his head to the side and grins.

"Scared, _Adelaide_?"

I shake my head although I'm sure that the terrified tears in my eyes assuredly give my true emotions away.

"What do you want?" I swallow and try to regain a little of my pride.

Standing up straight, he sighs before speaking with complete ignorance as to what my question was.

"You fascinate me. Do you know that?"

My head inadvertently tilts to one side and I quietly scrutinize the look on his face. Why would I fascinate him?

He slowly makes his way around the table and towards me. I take three tentative steps back but I'm not quick enough; he roughly grasps my upper arms and I struggle, viciously trying to escape his tightening grip. I'm sure that there are bruises forming quickly on my skin and I now try to punch my way of his hold. I look up into his dark eyes; he's giving me a patronising glare again.

"Now, now. Calm down."

"Get off of me!" I demand desperately.

Before I know it, I am pinned between the grubby wall and The Master's bulk. I stare, wide eyed at his face, no emotion can be seen on his features and it's terrifying. The dark lights in his eyes stare down at me, as though he is assessing me. I want to look away but I can't. It's as though it is physically impossible for me to turn my head from him. He stares me down; assessing me as though I'm hiding something.

"Now, what could possibly be different about you?"

He slowly tilts my face, first to the left and then to the right. He has a firm hold on my chin as he finally settles his eyes on mines. I feel as though his glare bores into my very soul.

"I'm going to try something."

I really do not like the way he says that. His hand moves from my chin to my temple and he releases my wrist as his other hand moves to mirror the first. I struggle hard to release myself from his grip but to no avail. An idea suddenly pops into my head and I position myself, ready to kick him in the shin, but it seems that I realise this far too late; his forehead connects with mine and my body falls weak. I can't help but close my eyes as a distant sound enters my mind.

_One… two… three… four… one… two… three… four…_

I frown before bringing my hands up to lay them on his shoulders, I try to push him away from me but it as though he is rooted to the spot, like he's no longer there, an outer body experience, perhaps? Slowly but surely, the sound becomes louder. It appears in every part of my mind, every corner of my consciousness.

_One… two… three…four… one… two… three… four…_

It slowly becomes louder and louder, feeling as though it's coming closer and closer. My head begins to burn and I thump his chest, trying to get him away from me. Wet, hot tears begin to pour down my face and I whimper as I grab fistfuls of his jacket before, finally, the pain becomes too much and I scream.

He quickly detaches himself from me and takes several steps back. My legs can no longer hold me up and I slide down the wall and fall to the ground. The Master is staring at me as though I've grown an extra head; I ignore this as I pull my knees to my chest, resting my forehead on them. My head throbs and I grip my hair as I rest against the wall. Taking several deep breaths, I calm myself and wipe the tears from my face. It is then that I turn to him; his mouth is open and his eyes are wide.

"You?" he says in disbelief, "You heard them?" He pauses, spinning on the spot and laughing with glee, "You heard them, and you're alive."

He laughs loudly and this causes my complete confusion to grow. Instead of asking what on earth was wrong with him, I merely groan and lean my head to the side and against the wall. It's as though my brain itself is throbbing, pulsing in agony.

"But how?" His voice once again penetrates my thoughts and I desperately try to shut him out.

The pain is decreasing ever so slightly and I manage to heave myself off of the ground by pressing myself against the wall and hauling myself up. The Master is, again, closing the gap between us and stops short of about two metres. I stare him down, determined to show my anger and frustration. He only begins to talk to himself—

"Do you think... yes-"

I try to edge my way away from him but he pins me with a hard stare and I freeze. His eyes suddenly widen as though something has suddenly become clear.

"Oh, yes! But, that's brilliant!"

"What?" I just about manage that one word.

"It's gone." Is his answer to which I raise a lazy, questioning eyebrow.

"It's gone through, hasn't it?" He's speaking to himself again, "Has it?"

He strides over to me quickly and stands me up straight before grabbing my chin and looking intently at my face.

"It has." The surprise in his voice is evident and, if only I had the energy, I would push him for answers but in all honesty, I just want to curl up into a ball and sleep forever.

He suddenly sobers and he releases his grip on me, once again, sending me falling to the floor. He spins on his heels and waltzes back to the door, as he swings it open, a guard fully dressed in black replaces him.

"Bring her when I tell you."

The Master makes his way out of the room, without a word.

The door slams shut and I'm left with the guard. The noise echoing quietly in my head;

_One… two… three… four…_

**So sorry for the long wait but English Lit kind of took over my week.**

**As always, tell me what you think.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Times Change**

**AN: Big thank-you to Kie1993, animemonkey13 and TheGirlWithTheOnyxRose for their comments on the last chapter.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Doctor Who.**

Chapter 18-

I've never really understood the word 'evil', having never seen the characteristic in practice. As a child, Doctor Mayhew or even my parents were considered evil in my eyes; the people that had hurt me most, those who had either left me, with no knowing of love or care for another of my species, or those that had injured me, both physically and mentally; telling me that I wasn't right, wasn't normal. But, then again, is it normal for a girl of twenty years old to be re-evaluating her life? I doubt it.

No, I had definatly never seen evil, before this time, that is. For now I think I know exactly what evil is, the definition. I could be wrong, of course; there could be an explanation as to why things went the way that they did. But I think I know it; what evil is, two words;

The Master.

Just looking at him now, even out of the corner of my eye, I can feel it; the coldness emanating from him, the cruelness of his soul as he taps the haunting four beat rhythm on the desk beside him. It repeats over and over in my head, it's there, right at the back of my mind and although it's quieter now, it's still very much intoxicating; running through my mind as though at one hundred miles an hour.

I soon find myself turning my face towards him, unable to look anywhere else. Is it strange that he now completely captivates me?

No one has moved in the room. I am being held alongside the Torchwood team. Ianto is close beside me, a bruise forming on his forehead. On the other side of me is the guard in black, he wears a helmet so I am unable to see his face. I continue to look at The Master; he himself is staring at the Doctor who has mirrored his position on the other side of the room of which we prisoners line the outside of.

Suddenly, The Master snaps his stony gaze towards me. Our eyes lock, only for a second, and the sound in my head becomes louder. So loud, in fact, that my head begins to burn, just as it did in the room. My knees buckle under the weight of the pain and I kneel, still completely unable to look away. I try to blink but find it impossible. My hands shake viciously behind my back in the cuffs and I feel a tear glide down my cheek. The pain is immense and I force myself not to sob as my vision blurs, whether it is because of the tears or not, I do not know.

"Stop it." The Doctor's voice sounds distant to me.

The Master doesn't move but a small, wryly smile appears on his lips. I am doubled over in pain but I still look up, the drum beat becoming louder, more penetrating with each millisecond that goes by.

"Leave her alone." Jack demands, sounding miles away.

It's like the air around me is numb, with no sound traveling at all. The drums are the only sound, they're taking over my mind I can feel it.

"Whatever you're doing, stop it, now!"

Finally, The Master blinks and looks away, back to The Doctor. It's like I've been let loose from a harness and I have fallen to earth. I collapse, face first, onto the neatly polished, wooden flooring. A small whimper escapes my lips as the last of my energy drains from my body. The two titled men in the room continue to talk, although I don't listen. I'm too absorbed in the beat that is slowly dying away, drifting eerily from my consciousness and back into the dark pools of my mind, hopefully, never to be heard again. My face is damp with tears as I look up, solemnly locking eyes with Jack. He gives me a sympathetic and questioning glance, probably wondering what on earth just happened. I don't even know it myself. All I know is that it wasn't good.

"Get her up." This demand slices through my thoughts and I'm hauled off of the ground by my hood.

I stumble but manage to stand whilst refusing to look anywhere near The Master, instead, I stare at my feet, my hair falling ungracefully over my face. Out of the corner of my eye the blonde woman- Lucy, I think- stares at me, although she does not seem amused, in fact, I feel her sympathy and bewilderment at the whole situation. I turn my head to the side and lock gazes with her, she soon turns away. It's as though she is not sure as to whether she's allowed to look at the prisoners. The look in her eyes is so innocent and I find myself wondering what she was like before, before she met him, before she married a monster. What life would have lay ahead of her had she never laid eyes on _Harold Saxon_.

"How many cities have you destroyed?" The Doctor asks.

"I just want it to stop." The Master seems oblivious to the question that was just asked, "The drums, Doctor, they call me to war but no matter how many I kill they won't stop!"

By the end of his sentence, The Master is hitting his fist against his temple. I turn back to Lucy who is now staring, almost lovingly at her husband, tears are forming in her eyes and she begins to shake. I tilt my head in confusion and, being entirely in my own world, I don't hear the sound of a gun cocking.

"I just need your help." The Master's voice is barely a whisper but I hear it and turn…

And find myself staring down the barrel of a gun. The Master is now about a metre from me. The Doctor tenses and begins to move forward slowly.

"One more step and I'll kill her!"

I stop myself from looking into his eyes as my own lose focus.

"You will not get my help by doing this!"

I look between the Doctor and the gun.

"Can't you hear it, Doctor?" The man before me seems a million miles away as he asks the question.

The Doctor shakes his head and speaks softly, "I can't, it's only you."

"No, it's not." The Master mumbles with a smirk on his face, "But, if you can't help me," He tilts his head to the side and pouts, "Well, there's no need to keep her."

A gun shot echoes through the air.


	19. Chapter 19

**Times Change**

**AN: Thanks to animemonkey13, Kie1993 AND Shadows in the moon for reviewing the last chapter.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Doctor Who.**

Chapter 19-

Everyone freezes.

My eyes instinctively shut tightly and I wince at the sound before the silence follows. I wait for an abnormally long before I finally open my eyes.

Only to see The Master fall to the ground. The pistol of which he was holding falls with a clatter at my feet.

I'm alive, not dead, alive. Not even mortally wounded. Alive.

A deep sigh of relief escapes my lips before I notice the deep pool of crimson liquid flowing from The Master's abdomen. I freeze at the sight and feel my face pale. The Doctor has rushed forward but I can't move. If The Master dies, now, so many questions will go unanswered. I'll have no idea as to what is going on; he knows more about me than he's letting on and without him, maybe I'll never know those things. Is that selfish of me? I suppose it is.

I suddenly look around; eager to know who fired the shot, who pulled the trigger. I turn to Lucy, there's a gun in her hand and she's shaking visibly but she doesn't look like a woman who has just shot her husband, no, she looks… confused? Yes, through her teary eyes there is a great look of bewilderment about her.

I then turn to Jack. No, he's still cuffed. He couldn't have done it.

The rest of the Torchwood team are in the same boat, I notice. So I turn to my right, the guard beside me is putting away his pistol in a hurry. That's why the shot sounded so close; it was him. The dark helmet is pulled quickly off to reveal a youthful face, about the age of twenty two? It is then that I recognise him, I never got to know his name but it's the guard that I have seen a lot of; he pulled the television in a few months back and, several times, escorted me around the building.

He discards the helmet and begins to blunder with the tangled set of keys on his belt. He doesn't look at the man dying on the floor. He's shaking and fumbles several times whilst finding the right key before reaching behind me and scrabbling with the lock on my handcuffs.

"Wha-?" I can hardly get the word out.

He doesn't look my way as he answers—

"I couldn't let him shoot you." His voice wavers as he speaks.

I look over my shoulder at him, studying him properly; dirty blonde hair, green eyes and a friendly looking face. I try to catch his eye to thank him for saving my life but he's too pre-occupied with the cuffs. He's deathly pale; probably shocked. He doesn't look like the type of person who would shoot another person at first chance.

My hands fall forward and the handcuffs fall to the ground. I stand there, very unsure as to what to do now. The situation is incredibly awkward.

Jack is suddenly behind me, hands resting gently on my shoulders as we both look forward.

"C'mon." The Doctor mutters, "Not again, I can't do this again."

For a brief moment I wonder what he means but I am wrenched back to reality at the sound of The Master's next sentence—

"Did you ever wonder where you are? What happened to your tenth regeneration here?" A small smirk appears on his lips.

He's dying and he still has time to be cruel.

"I destroyed him."

Jacks hands tighten on my shoulders and I ball my hands into fists, refusing to let tears fall for this man.

"Him and Miss Martha Jones." He practically spits that particular sentence.

"Stop it." The Doctor demands quietly, "You know how to solve this. It's just a bullet, it's nothing."

The Master only laughs.

"Please." The Doctor begs, his voice barely above a whisper.

He repeats this word over and over again as The Masters eyes fall closed. He's dead and my resolve falls; a tear slides down my cheek at the sight of the mourning Timelord in front of me. He's hunched over the body, fringe falling in his eyes, his years showing more than ever in the green spheres. I tense at the sombre sight and Jacks arm wraps around my shoulders.

"Go over to him."

I turn in surprise to which he answers softly—

"Help him."

I gulp but agree none the less. I make my way slowly forward, feet shuffling on the wooden flooring; nervous. I turn back to Jack who makes a '_go_' motion with his hands and I eventually come to a halt beside the Doctor. Kneeling down, I touch his shoulder gently, the feel of the tweed is a welcome one but I quickly bypass the sentiment as his head snaps in my direction. I jump slightly at the sudden movement but try to calm him—

"Hey, it's me." I state quietly before realising how utterly stupid it sounded as part of the situation.

He looks at me, and I mean, really looks at me. Like it's the first time he's seen me in years, like I'm a brand new person to him. I chance a quick look at The Master out of the corner of my eye but the sound of drums quickly makes me look back. I ignore what has just happened and instead, I pull The Doctor into a tight hug; wrapping my arms around his neck. He hesitates slightly before returning the hug. He's no longer crying but he is shaking slightly as I rest my chin on his shoulder.

The room is silent and the air feels thick with tension, more than it was before. I didn't think that was possible but with The Master dead, the atmosphere seems all the more heavy. It's is amazing how something can end so quickly, a life can stop so suddenly, grind to a halt forever. All that power, that evil, infinite but surely brilliant power in that one mind, gone. The scene that has just happened is still running through my head, like a screensaver in my mind; the frozen image of The Doctor's broken face. I know that it will haunt me. This thought makes me tighten my grip on him as another tear falls.

"I'm sorry." Those two, whispered words fill my ear.

How can he be apologising? He has done nothing. None of this was his fault, how can he believe that it was?

"Don't." I mumble; stopping him in his tracks before he overcomes with guilt that shouldn't exist in his consciousness at this moment.

I close my eyes.

The room is silent.

**This chapter, I found, unbelievably difficult to write. Please tell me how you think I did.**

**Constructive criticism is always welcome.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Times Change**

**AN: Big thank-you's to Kie 1993, Shadows in the moon (Did you get my message?) and animemonkey13 for their comments on the last chapter.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Doctor Who.**

Chapter 20-

The six of us walk through Cardiff city centre. There is a slight dampness in the air, although not one of us seems actually bothered by the weather. The Doctor walks a few paces ahead of the group as I wander beside Jack, keeping my eyes firmly trained on the time lord in front of me. The Doctor walks with his head down and his shoulders slumped. It's been two days since the incident and he's been like this since. It worries me greatly but whenever I try to talk with him, he shrugs it off, saying that the information is something that I shouldn't bear. I am at a complete loss on how to help him and I feel useless.

"Jack?"

The American's stride slows and he turns to me, giving me a questioning glance. I take a deep breath before continuing—

"Who was he? The Master, I mean."

His expression turns solemn and he lightly touches my arm. We draw back from the rest of the group; slowing our step as we do so. Jack takes a deep breath before speaking—

"The Master was a Timelord."

The confusion and shock fills me so quickly that I practically stumble. Taking a few, deep breaths, I gather my senses and cast a cautious glance towards the Doctor.

"But I thought that he was-"

"The only one left?" Jack enquires.

I shrug.

"Well, yeah." It suddenly dawns on me, "That's why they acted as though they knew each other; because they actually did."

Jack nods, but I can't help but notice the teasing smile, of which he is trying to hide. I pout and sigh.

"Was I an idiot for not realising that?"

He only chuckles quietly and pats my back, indicating for me to move forward and continue walking. I oblige.

"Jack?" I say after we have walked a few paces in complete silence.

"Yeah?"

"You didn't answer my question." I state.

"I know."

**()()()()()()()()**

About ten minutes later and the bay is within sight. The Doctor veers off to the left without a word; brooding. I make to follow him but a feather light touch of a cool hand on my wrist stops me. I turn to see Gwen, a sad smile plain on her features.

"Leave him for a bit, yeah?"

I nod, although a little unsure as to whether it is the right thing to do, I understand. If The Doctor had lost a friend, then he would need time, as would anyone.

"C'mon." She wraps a comforting arm around my shoulders and leads me around the corner.

The shock of which I get as I turn the corner is completely indescribable. For, there is Jack flirting with, wait for it, himself. My jaw drops inadvertently, as does Gwen's. Okay, this situation is getting beyond confusing. One of the Jacks notices the two of us. Shock quickly passes over his features as he sees Gwen before he controls himself and strides towards me. I inwardly groan; I do not need Jack flirting right now. He holds out a hand.

"Well, I must say that it is very nice to meet you..?"

"It's Adelaide." I say, cautiously shaking his hand.

"Jack. Love your name." He gives me a wink and I bypass the strong sense of déjà vu as he pulls Gwen into a tight hug, his mood, for the moment, completely sobered.

As he pulls away from Gwen (I have now moved to stand near 'my Jack') He turns to Owen.

"An explanation, please. Why is there two of me? And who's the new girl? Not that I'm complaining or anything." He turns to look over his shoulder and sends a wink my way. Although, I'm not overly sure as to whether it was for me or himself, as it were.

"Jack?" I whisper.

'My Jack' leans his head so that it is almost level with mine.

"What?"

"Really confused right now." I state simply.

Gwen approaches my right ear.

"You're not the only one."

**()()()()()()()()**

I sit by Tosh's computer, leaning my elbows on the desk and resting my chin in my hands. I gaze up at the incredible high ceiling. For a place that's actually pretty grubby, Torchwood is beautiful.

The team have retired to Jack's office and have begun to explain everything in further detail. I was left with a cup of tea and a plate of some bourbon's. I lean back in my chair and begin to absent-mindedly stir my tea, thinking about the years events. Had it been a year? Or maybe it had been more than that? I just don't know, I'm severely confused. No, I console myself inwardly; I'm now pretty sure that it was about a year. Or was it?

The thoughts running through my head become too confusing and way too much. I lay my head on the desk forcefully and close my eyes. Falling asleep is the best feeling I have had in a long time.

_I awake to find myself lying in a field of deep green grass. Sitting up, I feel the ground beneath me and instantly realise where I am. Smiling contently, I realise that I haven't dreamt about this place in so long and it brings great relief to finally be back. I cover my surroundings; making sure to get a good sense as to where abouts I am. Although, most of the time, I know this place like the back of my hand, my subconscious always seems to find or add or whatever it does to the world and, only occasionally, I find myself lost._

_But this time I'm not lost, no, this is a place of which I know very well._

_The grass stops a few metres ahead of me as a sharp, deep cliff face cuts it off. The valley, or whatever it is (I've never really found out) is so deep that I am unable to see the bottom for deep lilac and blue fog smothers the rocks after a couple of hundred metres. The glittering, granite bridges are where they have always been; floating in the light mist that surrounds them in the air. The mist is thicker today and so only the bottom part of the city that stands on these bridges can be seen._

_I take in the beautiful sight. Being sure to see every detail, for I may not see it again anytime soon._

_One… two… three… four…_

_It's distant, very distant, but I can hear it. I can feel it through the earth beneath my feet as it makes its way ever closer to me._

_One… two… three… four…_

_It seems to rebound off of the trees around the clearing of which I stand in. Getting louder and louder the more it repeats. I spin around, not really knowing what I expect to see, of course, there is nothing to see, it is a sound. A sound that I am unable to delete from my mind._

_It gets louder and louder, closer and closer, and…_

I sit bolt upright, startled out of my sleep. Looking down at my hands, I see that I am shaking. Glancing at my reflection in the black screen of the computer I see what a mess I look; my hair is wayward and my eyes are wide, my scar above my eyebrow seems more prominent and I look as though I've got a bad case flu, I am that pale.

I shake myself back to reality and listen.

There's no sound, no drum beat, just the chattering voices that can be heard from the office.

It is then that the door slides open and The Doctor steps in.

I don't think I've ever been so relieved to see him.

**If you are confused about the dream scene then go back and read **_**Bordering Insanity**_**, it's the prequel to this. (Note: wrote it ages ago and it's not overly brilliant, I may re-write it at some point but not planning to anytime soon, so please bear with the slightly poor quality, it will explain some things though)**

**Perhaps a couple of new reviewers for this chapter?**

'**Till the next time.**


	21. Chapter 21

**Times Change**

**AN: Thank you to Kie 1993, Shadows in the moon, SarBrook and animemonkey13 for their comments on the last chapter.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Doctor Who. **

Chapter 21-

His stride shortens suddenly and he stops, looking towards the office behind me. His eyes narrow as he scrutinizes the scene behind the large glass windows; Jack, 'our Jack', is sitting in the chair behind the dark, wooden desk and is watching, with amused eyes, as the rest of the team try to explain the situation from the start to the 'other Jack' who is trying to wrap the situation around his head at the present moment, trying to understand. All senses of flirting seem to be gone and although I'm not in the room, it looks all rather professional.

I swivel my chair lazily back around to face The Doctor. He shakes his head in bemusement before coming to sit in a chair close to mine. We share a comfortable silence for a minute and I refrain from asking him how he is feeling, not knowing how he's respond. In all honesty, I'm just glad to be around him again and, after everything that has happened, I find his presence immensely comforting. His expression turns completely serious suddenly, as he asks—

"Are you okay?"

I smile slightly and nod.

"I'm fine."

I cannot tell you as to why I feel as though I am unable to tell him the truth, about the noise in my head. I trust him, really, I trust him with my life, but I just can't say. It's almost as though there is some invisible force keeping the words from falling from my lips. I bite the inside of my cheek as an immense sense of foreboding washes over me; not telling him will not lead anywhere good, I can tell.

"Adelaide?"

I am ripped from my thoughts as he speaks with great suspicion.

"Honestly," I reply, brushing away his concern, "I'm fine."

He makes to speak, once again, but I cut him off—

"What will happen to the Toclafane?"

The Doctor opens his mouth but is, again, cut off as a new voice enters the conversation, Jack, or one of them—

"Yeah, we can sort that."

The group of six file out of the office as this Jack continues—

"But right now we need a way to get you guys back to where you came from and to help your TARDIS." He gestures behind him with a thumb, "Gwen told me."

I grin as a look I recognise flitters across his features; he knows a way, I'm sure of it. 'Other Jack' begins to explain—

"A couple of years back, your tenth generation gave me something, said to keep it and I'll know if I'll ever need to get it out."

I raise my eyebrows, confusion slowly filling me. The Doctor has sat up straight, clearly intrigued as to where this is going.

"It's amongst the alien tech in here somewhere." Tosh says. Her hands are on her hips and she looks around the vast room.

"What is it?" I ask.

"He called it a Siethian diamond."

The confusion on my features is clearly evident as Jack explains—

"It looks like a piece of quartz, a very red piece of quartz."

"And this gem stone can help, how?"

The Doctor speaks next, the group ignore my question.

"They're extinct."

A smirk appears on 'other Jack's' face.

"Not in this universe."

A large grin appears on the Time lord's face as he begins to understand.

"Can someone please explain?" I moan.

The Doctor turns his chair to mine, presumably in a slight fit of excitement,

"A Siethian diamond- they were found on a planet close to Gallifrey, mined from the very cold core of the planet, small collections of them could be found in the rock and only the most experienced miners were able to go that deep."

"So, very rare, then?" I guess.

"Yes."

"What do they do?"

"They can heal a TARDIS." He states simply.

"But I thought that the TARDIS was, Y'know." I refrain from saying the word 'dead'.

"She is, but this can help."

I turn back to Jack, still slightly confused, "And you have one?"

He nods, "Somewhere."

'My Jack' speaks up—

"Well, we'd better get looking then."

**()()()()()()()()**

I have teamed up with Tosh and now, we search through some crates, of which we found in a basement area of Torchwood. She heaves a medium sized wooden crate from the ground and places it on an old wooden table in the corner of the room. We begin to rummage through it, searching for the rock.

"How long have you been with him?"

This question catches me off guard and I freeze for a second, trying to figure it out. Three months, or a year and a half? Does this past year or so even count? I'm not entirely sure.

Pulling my arms out of the box, I rest my hands on the table, my brow creased in thought.

"With him? Three months. In the whole situation? About a year and a half… I think."

She smiles, her eyes shining brightly and I do the same before, once again, beginning to rummage through the box. For a moment, I wonder whether I should ask about what had happened to Gwen in this universe and as I'm about to do so, the sound of footsteps echo down the hallway and a rather worn out looking Ianto pokes his head through the doorway.

"We've got it." He sighs heavily.

The two of us laugh lightly at his expression and slightly wayward hair before calming ourselves.

"Thanks." I say before putting the crate back on the floor and following both Tosh and Ianto out of the room and back up to the main hub.

The Doctor runs down the stairs with something in his hand, from the other side of the room, I can see the red glow emanating from the crystal in his grip. I jog over to have a look and he passes it to me prudently.

"Careful, it's fragile." He says quietly.

I nod and hold it between my thumb and forefinger, studying the crystal; it is about the size of my thumb, the deep red colour shines slightly in the light as I turn it from side to side.

"It's beautiful." I state before passing it back to The Doctor who puts it, haphazardly into his pocket.

I smile as Gwen comes to stand by my side.

"And, what about getting back? How does that work?" She asks eagerly, probably looking forward to seeing her family again.

'Other Jack' turns, "Tosh?"

The woman in question smiles before stepping towards her computers, the rest of us file in behind her as she begins to explain…

**Strange place to stop? Yeah, I know, but I'm very tired and this was about all I could possibly write today.**

**And a massive thank-you to anyone who has reviewed this so far, it means a lot to me.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Times Change**

**AN: Thank-you to Kie 1993 for the only review on the last chapter.**

**Sorry for the longer than usual wait, have a slightly longer and, hopefully, a little more interesting chapter by way of an apology.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Doctor Who.**

Chapter 22-

I dodge around Ianto as he passes by me, tray filled with mugs of tea in hand, and places said tray on the side by Tosh's desk. I nod my thanks and grab a mug. Taking a large gulp of the warm liquid, I nod to Tosh as she asks—

"Everyone understand?"

In all honesty, I have absolutely no idea as to what she is talking about. However, I do get the basic idea; she can manipulate the rift spikes using some scientific, alien gizmo, which she called a 'reality space shifter' or something along those lines, this can, apparently, make the rift transport us into another reality, _our_ reality. However, we have to wait until wait for a spike with perfect placement, so as to get back to where we were.

I don't mind playing the waiting game, as it means that I get to spend more time with the Torchwood team for a little while longer. Although, I can see that The Doctor is eager to get back to his TARDIS as he steps back from the small group. He carries the jewel in the palm of his right hand, studying it intently. He moves to sit at a desk that is a few metres away and lays the red stone gently on the wood.

Quietly, I move to sit opposite him, clasping my hands together and laying my arms on the table, I rest my chin on my knuckles and study the jewel, avoiding eye contact, as I ask—

"What happened to you?" My voice is quiet as I speak, "All those months. Where did you end up?"

It is a question that has been haunting my mind ever since I saw him again.

He clears his throat awkwardly, "Cardiff." He states simply.

A small lump rises in my throat as I say—

"With Jack and Gwen?"

He knows what I'm getting at and nods slowly. I peel my gaze away from the ruby stone on the table and stifle a yawn before smiling lazily at him, burying the small feeling of exclusion -of which is growing slowly- that I had gained from having the small conversation. He looks at me apologetically. I merely lower my gaze back to the jewel on the table. It seems like forever until I am drawn from my thoughts—

"Addie?"

I spin the chair to see Jack heading off down a side corridor. I frown in confusion as he gestures to a room near him.

"Need your help." He states.

I am suspicious but move anyway, the slight grin on his face lures me towards him and anything that he has planned. What is he up to?

I push myself off of the chair and make my way towards him. He's walked into the room which is now to the left of me. I go inside to find him pressing buttons quickly on something strapped around his wrist. I walk forward, curious to see what he is doing. As I get closer his head snaps up.

"Done!"

I raise an eyebrow, "Done?"

He points to the thing on his wrist, "A Vortex Manipulator." He states.

"I'm sorry?"

He tilts his head to the side, "C'mon, Adelaide! You've time travelled!"

"Yeah, but I travelled in a blue box!" I defend, "Yours is a bracelet."

He ignores the latter comment and instead, he points to the Vortex Manipulator.

"Put your hand on it."

I scoff, "Not a chance."

"You don't trust me?"

He has me there and he knows it. Although, I soon realise that I don't actually know which Jack it is. I shrug anyway and lay my hand on his wrist.

In an instant, I'm somewhere different, although I do recognise it. We're in Cardiff Bay. It looks as though it is early evening, local restaurants thrive with people but outside is almost deserted, a few youths sit on a bench nearby, chatting casually and I shiver, Goosebumps rising on my arms as a gust of wind blows through the bay. Jack is by my side suddenly and is pulling off his trench coat. He hands it to me and tells me to put it on. I comply, shrug on the coat and thank him. I brush my hair from my face as I ask—

"Why are we back here?"

Jack point forward and I follow his gaze. A blue police box stands by an alleyway, slightly shaded by the shadow of dusk. However, the moonlight reflects boldly from the small windows in the box's exterior. I admire the scene before me with excitement, clearly not fully understanding what is going on, but I know enough to tell that the police box is, in fact, the TARDIS. I make to step forwards, towards the ship but Jack is suddenly in front of me. He pulls the coat back from my torso and reaches into an inside breast pocket. He quickly pulls out a small tan envelope and thrusts it into my hand.

"You see those two people?" He gestures behind him.

Looking over his right shoulder, I see who he means; there is a blonde woman, in a pink jacket and a pair of dark trousers. With her is a tall man in a blue pinstripe suit and brown trench coat, his dark, brunette hair is gelled up. I turn back to Jack.

"What about them."

He points to the envelope, "You need to give them this."

"And, what is _this_?" I wave the envelope in front of our faces.

"Times, dates, co-ordinates, everything he needs to get hold of the diamond."

"I'm confused." I say, eyeing the two out of the corner of my eye, in order not to lose them.

"Addie," His voice drags my gaze and I turn to him, "That's The Doctor."

I frown, he explains—

"A past regeneration of him, his _tenth _regeneration. When he gave me the diamond he described you as the person to give him the information needed."

I'm pretty sure that my mind has just exploded.

"So," I start, a little unsure of what to say, I finally settle on- "Why didn't we tell The Doctor – my Doctor- about this?"

Jack looks slightly sheepish, "He wouldn't have allowed you to travel by this." He gestures to his wrist, "It's not particularly healthy." He adds quietly.

"Jack!"

"Adelaide." He interrupts me, "Bigger fish to fry!" And with that he pushes me towards the two people.

I stumble but just about manage to regain my footing. I turn back several times in hesitation. What do I say to him? I stutter but, eventually manage to speak—

"Doctor?" the man –The Doctor- turns.

"Hello." He grins widely, "what can I do for you?"

I've frozen, literally, as my brain goes off on its own tangent- this is The Doctor, way before he knows me. The Master final words echo through my mind—

"_Did you ever wonder where you are? What happened to your tenth regeneration here?"_ My breath catches in my throat, _"I destroyed him."_

As I said, The Doctor standing before me hasn't met me yet, and thinking on what The Master had said, I don't think he ever will.

I blink to clear my thoughts; I don't want to think about those things when here I am, standing in front of him.

"Sorry." I fluster before handing over the envelope, "This is for you."

He raises a confused eyebrow.

"Everything should be explained in there." I say, my voice wavering ever so slightly.

He takes it from my grip gently, clearly slightly uncertain of the stranger that has just randomly given him an envelope.

"Hang on a minute," The blonde speaks up with a London accent, "Who are you?"

I stutter again, unsure as to whether I am allowed to tell them my name. After a brief moment of hesitation I answer—

"I'm Adelaide."

The Doctor's face brightens—

"That's a great name, that. Adelaide!"

I laugh lightly, "Thanks."

He holds out his hand, "I'm The Doctor." He says cheerfully.

"I know." I laugh, shaking his hand.

He tilts his head to the side in a questioning manner, to which I reply—

"It's… timey-wimey." I say.

He nods slowly in understanding and the three of us stand in silence for a couple of seconds. The blonde speaks again—

"Sorry, but," she pauses, "You two know each other?"

"Uhh, not exactly."

The Doctor's finger is suddenly on my lips, preventing me from saying anymore.

"Stop right there."

I do so and he removes his finger.

"Rose, we'd better leave. Adelaide," he turns to me, "It was nice meeting you."

I grin, "It was great, brilliant actually." I point my thumb over my shoulder and reluctantly say my goodbyes, "I'd better go."

We share a smile for the final time before I turn and jog back towards Jack, still ever so slightly confused.

**Any good? I'm not too sure how to write Ten well but I hope that this does him justice.**


	23. Chapter 23

**Times Change**

**AN: Lack of reviews on the past few chapters, have I lost you?**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Doctor Who.**

Chapter 23-

Jack and I travel back to Torchwood and we, once again, appear in the small room off of the corridor. I smooth out the creases from my jumper and ask—

"How long have we been gone?"

Jack calculates for a few seconds, "About four minutes?"

"Good." I say as I make my way out of the room.

Jack's voice stops me—

"Not a word to anyone.

"I know." I reply with a wave of my hand as I slip through the doorway and out into the main room.

A chorus of _"Adelaide?"_ can be heard from the platform above me.

I look up to see The Doctor's face staring down at me. Gwen soon joins him, as do the other three members of the group.

"Yeah?" I ask, wondering whether they have sorted the problem already.

"Where the hell have you been?" Gwen asks, running down the metal stairs, The Doctor following close behind her.

I motion over my shoulder with a thumb, slightly bewildered at their actions.

"Just over-"

"And you!" I am cut of as Gwen pushes past me, storming towards the Jack behind me.

The Doctor pulls me into a sudden hug and I frown before responding hesitantly. Once he lets go, I am pulled into someone else, I recognise the trench coat and hug Jack back as a loud 'crack' is heard from a few metres away. Clearly, Gwen has just planted a firm hand on the 'other Jack's' cheek. I suddenly realise what may have happened.

"How long were we gone?" I ask, cautiously shifting my gaze from person to person.

"Two days!" Gwen exclaims in disbelief.

I turn to the Jack of which I have just returned with—

"Good effort." I proclaim sarcastically.

He has the common courtesy to look a little sheepish and I guardedly spin on my heels to face The Doctor.

"Sorry?" It's more of a question than anything else but I hope that it will suffice as an apology.

He nods, a small movement of his head.

"Where were you? We were worried." The question comes from Ianto and is directed at Jack.

The American hesitated and shifted his gaze towards me in questioning. I shrug and he begins to blunder for words that won't make him sound too guilty.

"We were fulfilling a task." I state, chin up.

"Oh?" The Doctor asks.

I fumble with my words before finally stealing one of his—

"Spoilers?"

The side of his mouth quirks upwards in a slight curve of recognition. I bite my lip and smile, trying to seem as innocent as possible. I have no idea as to how much he is against the use of the Vortex Manipulator but I will do as Jack says. I turn back to see the man In question grinning whilst rubbing his cheek slowly. I smile back towards the rest of the group, Owen has rolled his eyes and has returned to whatever he was doing beforehand, as has Tosh, she studies the computer screen in front of her intently. The rest of the group eventually dissipate leaving myself and The Doctor.

"Sorry." I repeat, a little more solemnly this time.

He nods, "As long as you're okay."

There it is again, that concern lacing his voice that makes my stomach twist in guilt. He knows I'm hiding something from him. I glance up the stairs and towards my make-shift bedroom. I gesture to it as I speak—

"What's the time?"

He checks the watch on his wrist, "About eight thirty."

I gesture with my thumb, "I think I'm gonna go to bed."

With that, I walk around him and begin to make my way up the stairs.

"Goodnight, Adelaide."

I turn back and look at him, he doesn't call me 'Adelaide' often, only when he's concerned, normally its 'Addie' or, my particular favourite; 'Addie Q.'

I swallow the guilt that is slowly rising.

"Goodnight."

**()()()()()()()()**

_A soft rattling wakes me. I sit up in the bed and wait for my eyes to slowly adjust to the dark of the room. Torchwood is quiet. It seems that I am the only one awake in the building. I slide deftly out of the bed and stand up. There is a small window that looks out over the hub. I pad towards it and press my face gently against the glass, no one is down there, working in the gloom and so, I move back towards the rattling that emanates from beneath my bed._

_I am not afraid as of this moment in time, for surely Torchwood has plenty of strange alien gizmo- type things lying around. This is just going to be one of them._

_Squinting, so as not to wake myself up too much. I kneel and lean down on all fours, searching the darkness beneath the bed for the source of the noise. After a minute or two, I find that it is, in fact too dark to see anything and so, I stand and pad back towards the entrance to the room. I switch on the light switch and my breath catches in my throat. I am unable to move, frozen to the spot as I stare at the creature before me._

_The Rakoli stands on the other side of my bed, staring at me. I find myself wondering exactly how long it had been there for in the dark I was unable to see him at all, it could have been there throughout the whole night and I wouldn't have noticed._

_The rattling noise intensifies as the four beat rhythm appears from nowhere. My head begins to ache as I try in desperation to take in the situation but soon find myself completely unable to do anything with the drum beat sounding in every inch of my soul. My skin begins to itch in fearful anticipation. I open my mouth to call for someone but no words sound. The Rakoli moves towards me effortlessly, its long, slim fingers reach for me…_

I sit up quickly; the sound of my laboured breathing fills the room and tears, of which I had not noticed, glide down my cheeks. The pure fear has filled my very soul and I sit there, shaking visibly. The bed sheets that surround me look like the aftermath of a storm, the blankets are twisted and a pillow lies by my waist, not at all where it should be. I run a hand over my face and climb from the bed before slipping on my boots and leaving the room, not particularly wanting to stay for much longer.

Upon walking down the stairs and into the main hub, I notice that a single lamp is switched on, illuminating the immediate area but casting unusual shadows around the immense span of the tall room. The Doctor stands by Tosh's computer, his jacket is missing and his braces are no longer on his shoulders, instead, they hang loosely from the waist band of his trousers, he is swigging from a mug.

"Doctor?" I ask, my voice is tired.

He turns to me and takes in my, presumably, wayward appearance.

"Adelaide," he says quietly, "Everything alright?"

I nod before walking closer to the computer screen.

"What are you doing?" I shield my eyes from the glare of the screens and sit at the desk.

"Keeping an eye on things." He states, too cheerful than anyone should ever be at this time in the morning (I assume that it's about three in the morning or something like that.)

"Why are you up?" He asks.

I shrug, "Couldn't sleep."

He stays quiet but nods before studying the screens a little closer. I lean my elbow on the table and rest my chin in my hand.

"Do you ever sleep?"

He shrugs, "Not often."

I scoff quietly, "Freak." I mutter.

"Hey!" he defends, "You humans sleep _every_ night, that's just weird."

I mumble something that even I don't hear properly, not at all able to keep up with this conversation when I am this tired.

Eventually my head slips from my hand and I lay against the desk, my eyes close slowly and I fall asleep; glad not to be alone anymore.


	24. Chapter 24

**Times Change**

**AN: Thank you to Kie1993 for reviewing the last chapter.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Doctor Who or Torchwood.**

Chapter 24-

I am awoken sharply by a rather hard slap to the back of my head. I groan and groggily sit up, squinting as my eyes adjust to the, now, bright light.

"Ah, you're up now, then?" Gwen places a mug of coffee before me on the desk.

I mumble something incoherent for an answer and take a small mouthful. I curse abruptly and place the mug back on the table, clearly the coffee had only just been made and I feel rather stupid for drinking such a hot drink and knowing that that would be the case. Turning and casting my eyes around the room, I see that everyone is rushing around. Still not quite with it, I merely sit and watch. After I minute, I yawn and speak up—

"What's going on?"

Tosh is at my side quickly, scanning over the screens in front of her.

"We've predicted a rift spike." She states as Jack passes me.

"So, drink up."

I nod, still slightly bewildered. Before chancing another mouthful of the drink. It burns again and my tongue begins to feel fuzzy, but it has done its job and has woken me up slightly. I stand.

"Well, what do we do?"

Jack throws a hoodie at me and I pull it on.

"We leave."

I agree before realising that someone is missing; The Doctor.

"Uhh, where's The Doctor?" I ask.

"Don't worry," The man in question's voice comes from behind me.

I turn to see him walking from Jack's office. He holds in his hand a bronze coloured disc. He is sonicing it as he walks. The Doctor continues—

"Just adding the finishing touches." He beams as he passes me.

I follow behind him quickly as he leaves, trying to catch up with the rest of the group.

"So, what? That's it?"

"Yep." He calls over his shoulder.

"We're going back?" I ask, "To the right place?"

"Yes." He sounds slightly defensive now.

"Just like that?" I raise an eyebrow as he turns.

"Addie, not everything in the universe is as complicated as people make out." He says quietly.

"How does that thing work then?" I gesture to the disc in his left hand.

I fall into step with him as we make our way out into the bay.

"If we can place this at the exact spot, before the rift leaks, it will adjust the point of which it appears. It will literally shift the rift spike into the other universe." He's completely fascinated, I can tell.

"But?" I nudge and he gives me an indignant look, "There has to be something that isn't as easy as you make out."

He sighs and holds up a finger, "One shot," he says, "One chance. This will burn up after using such a large amount of power."

I gulp, I shouldn't have asked, but I manage to look on the bright side—

"Well, we'd better hurry up then." I say as the two of us reach the cars.

**()()()()()()()()**

We have driven for several miles before we finally stop. We are on a moor somewhere, practically in the middle of nowhere. Memories of the same sort of area flash through my mind before I discipline myself and get on with the task at hand. I steer myself to where the rest of the group has gathered around a, rather normal looking, spot of ground. I shuffle my feet as I walk towards them. The Doctor passes the disc to Tosh and she begins fiddling with it, presumably setting it up for it to work. She carefully sets it on the ground about a metre from the group.

I come to stand next to The Doctor as I pull up my hood and stuff my hands deep into my pockets. I huff quietly in waiting, for nothing overly spectacular has happened as of yet. After about ten minutes of waiting, I turn and walk back towards the cars. I perch myself on the bonnet and wait. Gwen appears a few minutes later, she steps towards me, hands in the pockets of her leather jacket. She looks almost cautious as she asks—

"Everything alright?"

I frown, but nod none the less.

"You're hiding something."

Now, that I wasn't expecting. I must be an absolutely terrible liar.

"No," I say slowly, "I'm fine."

She nods, a knowing smile plain on her face.

I now feel slightly awkward, what with almost being caught out. I don't know what my problem is. Why do I feel so unable to tell the truth? Why do I feel so self-protective when it comes to what is going on inside my head? I stare out into the horizon, thinking through everything that has happened.

_One… two… three… four… one… two… three… four…_

I resist the urge to growl in frustration as the pain, that had subsided, returns in my head. I rub he back of my neck in anxiety and try to block the sound out, trying to think of something else. The TARDIS, we were so close to getting back to her now, so close to fixing her-

_One… two… three… four…_

Gwen being able to see her family again, how she must have missed holding her little girl-

_One… two… three… four…_

It gets louder and louder, more and more prominent as the sound intensifies.

_One… two… three… four…_

Just as I am about ready to scream in both frustration and pain, Gwen's voice slices through my consciousness and, as quickly as it appeared, the sound dissipates, leaving my head feeling numb and my eyesight blurry. I blink several times and turn to the woman beside me.

"You would tell us if something was wrong, wouldn't you?"

I smile lightly, feigning innocence, "Of course."

"Good." She states quietly.

"Oi! You two!"

The two of us turn to see the group beckoning us over to them. A strange swirl of something that looks like yellow/orange smoke appears from the ground; it flashes red suddenly and stays that way. I slide from the bonnet and make my way forward with Gwen.

"That's it?" I ask.

The Doctor nods from my left.

"That leads beck to Snowdon, in Wales, on Earth?"

"Adelaide!" he scolds before muttering, "Ye of little faith."

I roll my eyes but smile, glad that we have eventually found a way back. I glance over my shoulder behind me at the two Jacks standing side by side.

"Uhh, Doctor?"

He lowers his head to my height as I continue—

"How do we know that we have taken the right 'Jack' home?"

He follows my gaze and stares at the two men in question for a couple of seconds.

"I have absolutely no idea." He states slowly.

**Only one or two more chapters 'till we're finished. This has to be the longest thing I have ever written so far. I hope to update as soon as possible.**


	25. Chapter 25

**Times Change**

**AN: Thank-you to animemonkey13 and Kie1993 for their reviews on chapter twenty-four (Still can't believe I'm this far along)**

**AN2: Another tiny time jump at the start of this chapter**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Doctor Who or Torchwood.**

Chapter 25-

I step through the light a mere second after The Doctor and plant my foot on, anything but, firm ground. Resisting the urge to groan at the sight of, yet another, moor, I step further into the world and glance around.

The early morning sunlight penetrates the light fog that hangs in the air. This warms my face and is one of the reasons that I'm not overly sure that we are in the right place. I glance around quickly, shading my eyes against the haze of the light reflecting from the, now clearly, sky.

"Doctor?" I jog to catch up with him.

He turns suddenly, talking with his hands—

"Yes, Adelaide. We are in the right place." He turns, looking out over the horizon before mumbling, "Wales isn't all rain."

I laugh lightly, "Sorry."

He tries to stay serious but I catch him grinning from the corner of my eye. I follow his gaze, out and into the skyline before asking—

"Where is the TARDIS from here?"

He shields his eyes; covering his brow with his left hand before pointing down a steep hill.

"That way, keep walking for about an hour and a half and you'll be there."

It's been a while since I've seen him this cheerful. His reaction to The Master's death had scared me and, although I don't like him bottling up his emotions, I'm glad that 'The Doctor' is back. Taking a deep breath of fresh air, I turn back to the rift, the yellow-type cloud seems to be dissipating and Jack and Gwen still aren't through.

"Will it close with them on the other side?" I ask worriedly.

He follows my gaze and shrugs slightly, "Only if they're slow."

I raise my eyebrows and roll my eyes at this comment before Gwen's voice drifts through the air from behind me—

"We're back?"

I turn and grin, just in time to see the rift closing behind the two of them. Briefly, I wonder as to whether the right Jack has come through. This thought is, however is blown from my mind as I see something emerge from the trees to my right. I try to gather my nerve as the Rakoli emerges from the shadow of the canopy. I get hold of The Doctor's wrist, it is supposed to be in order to inform him of the new arrival but instead, I find myself gripping his sleeve in fear. What could it possibly want now?

"Doctor?" My voice wavers as I gesture towards the creature, it now walks lazily towards us.

"Been a while." The Doctor mutters.

I don't tell him that I've seen it so much more regularly than anyone else.

The four of us have grouped in the middle of the clearing, Jack is beside as he lays an arm around my waist, pinning me to my spot as The Doctor walks forward, meeting the Rakoli in the middle.

"Hello again, Doctor." It speaks, hands clasped together and resting them near its stomach.

It turns slightly, adjusting its position and looks over The Doctor's shoulder.

"Hello, Adelaide." It smiles unpleasantly, showing saliva covered, yellow teeth.

Jack's grip tightens around me as he pulls a gun from his pocket, gripping it tightly. The Doctor raises a hand from behind him, indicating for Jack to calm down. The Rakoli speaks next, clearly patronising the American to my left—

"There will be no need for that, I can assure you. I am merely here for my _payment._" If it could, it would have raised a clichéd, evil-looking eyebrow as it turned back to the Timelord in front of him.

"Payment?" The Doctor questions.

The Rakoli hols out its hand, palm facing the sky, it curls its bony fingers in a beckoning motion.

"I was promised the diamond."

The Doctor visibly tenses as I blurt out—

"I'm sorry?" I swallow a nervous laugh.

It tuts, "Now, now, child. This is grown up business."

"You're not getting it." I say, my nerve finally back.

The Rakoli places a finger on its lips, hushing me.

"Doctor? The Diamond." It orders, voice quiet, "Please."

I place my gaze on the Time lord's hand, he grips the red stone tightly as he says—

"No." He speaks slowly, his voice low in anger.

The next thing I know, I am grasped from behind. A cool and slightly damp hand comes to rest on my throat. The smell that reeks from the skin is appalling.

This really can't end well.

Jack has his gun pointing in my direction, at the Rakoli behind me. I stay as still as possible as it sighs—

"I didn't want to take it by force, Doctor. I am not usually a violent being."

Gwen scoffs, "Yeah, well what's with all the bodies about, then?"

I feel it shrug behind me.

"They were merely to lure you here. I can assure you, the journey of which you have been on, was not my idea. The payment however…"

The grip tightens around my throat as my breathing becomes all the more constricted. I try to choke but clearly fail as its nail dig deeper and deeper into the delicate skin of my neck; I can feel it drawing blood now. The dull thud of my heart beat fills my ears as I become drowsy.

"She's going, Doctor." It mocks, its voice close to my ear.

It twists it neck to study my face, "Not long now."

The sing song voice that it puts on is highly un-nerving.

"Let her go!" The demand comes from Jack as he readies his pistol.

"What would you want with a Siethian Diamond?" The Doctor asks quickly.

"They are worth a lot on my planet; selling one can tide one over for centuries." It clearly gets impatient with waiting as it tightens its grip quickly and suddenly, I make a strange strangled sound as I whimper. The Rakoli's voice becomes louder, more authoritive, "I'll take it whether I kill her or not, you know that!" It pauses for a couple of seconds before seeming to understand something, "Oh," it starts slowly, "Oh, but this is what he does, isn't it, Adelaide?" My head is tilted the side as my vision begins to blur and my knees weaken, "He'll put anyone in danger if it means that he gets to live on and explore the wonders of the universe. Why not add you to the long list?"

That second, a gunshot sounds through the air. The Rakoli freezes for a second before falling backwards. My knees give up and I fall to the dirt, trying to regain my senses. The Doctor kneels before me quickly; he studies the bruises that are surely forming on my neck.

"For a minute I thought-" I start but my voice scratches painfully at my throat, I begin to cough again and he hushes me gently.

"I'm sorry." He says gently before adding, "Don't try to talk."

I nod in agreement and stay silent; what just happened running through my head at a hundred miles an hour. One main thought passes constantly;

Thank god Jack is a good aim.

**I wasn't actually planning on bringing back that horrid Rakoli but it just flowed. Honestly, it's as though I have no control over what my fingers are typing.**

**Anyway, hoped you enjoyed and, as always, reviews are more than welcome.**


	26. Chapter 26

**Times Change**

**AN: Thank-you to Kie1993 for reviewing the last chapter.**

**AN2: Tiny bit of a rant, won't take up too much time. So far, this story has fifteen alerts and seven favourites. I won't name and shame but I wonder, whether some more of you could possibly review? Just a couple of words will be fine. I really do love to hear what you guys have thought of this whole fic. This is the last chapter after all.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Doctor Who.**

Chapter 26-

"The car's gone." Gwen states, jogging towards us.

The Doctor hauls me off of the ground.

"You really thought it would still be here?" Jack asks, "We've been gone for weeks."

He bends down to inspect the body of the Rakoli at his feet before looking up at The Doctor and I.

"We can't leave this here." He gestures to the corpse.

"Doesn't look like we'll have to." The Doctor answers simply.

I give him a questioning glance before following his gaze; the body is crumbling, falling, like ash, to the ground. For a moment I just stare, utterly mesmerised, completely confused as to what is happening, as to how the body is just melting away. It disintegrates until it looks like nothing more than a thicker layer of dry soil on top of the slightly damp mud that already layers the ground.

My mouth opens in surprise, of its own accord as I stare at the spot that was once a dead Rakoli. How is that possible? How could it just disappear like that?

I am drawn from my thoughts as someone closes my mouth for me. The Doctor pushes my chin upwards and, once again, inspects my throat. He clearly feels guilty for what happened and I smile gently as I peel him off of me before gesturing to the ground again.

"How does that work?" I ask, my surprise evident.

"Clearly they didn't want the body to be found." He states as though that one sentence explains everything.

"_They?"_ I ask.

He merely strolls away, calling over his shoulder—

"C'mon, TARDIS!" He turns, speaking to both Jack and Gwen, "I suppose you two want a lift?"

Jack doesn't answer, he just continues to walk in the same direction as the Timelord, Gwen follows him, jogging to catch up. I hold back, just for a meagre minute, staring at the brown pile of dust on the floor. For a moment, I run through the whole story in my mind, coming back here seems to be closer for the whole thing, everything was back to normal. As normal as it could be, traveling with The Doctor and all that. I can't help but let the grin grace my lips. Everything was good.

I momentarily forget the rhythm that seems to haunt my mind like a parasite.

A distant _"Adelaide!"_ wakes me from my thoughts and jog to catch up with the trio, which are now heading down a slight decline. I call back to say that I am following and after a brief hesitation, I do just that.

I fail to spot the hooded being near the trees edge.

**)()()()()()()()()(**

"So, how does it actually work?" I ask, staring around the TARDIS.

Even in this deteriorating state, the ship has a great homely feel to it. I walk forward and lean against the console, my palms flat against the cold glass. Grinning, I watch as Gwen wanders the vast control room, she's completely amazed, just as anyone else is when they wander through those doors.

"But that's…" She mutters, "That's completely impossible."

"Why?" The Doctor asks, grinning like a school boy.

It's blatant as to what he is after.

"Well… it's-"

"_Bigger on the inside."_ I mouth the words along with the welsh woman and The Doctor chuckles before beckoning the American beside me—

"Jack? Need your help."

With that the two of them wandered down the glass stairs under the floor of the console.

After they are gone, Gwen turns to me, an unreadable glint in her eyes as she stares at me. I shift uncomfortably.

"What?"

She shakes her head but continues to stare. I let out a nervous laugh—

"Seriously, what?"

She opens her mouth to speak but changes her mind. For a few seconds, she stays silent but soon she shakes her head.

"You look tired." She states softly.

Shrugging, I speak—

"I am, a little bit." I try hard to avoid her eyes; I've never been a good liar.

"Go to bed?" She suggests.

I make to answer but rattling stops me. I frown; the noise is familiar, I've heard it before but I am unsure as to where. Gwen seems completely un-phased by the sound; as though she can't even hear it. I can, however, and it's getting louder.

Frowning, I step forward; completely enticed by the sound. What on earth is it?

"Doctor?" I speak slowly, glancing around the vast room.

"Yeah?" He speaks over the racket.

"What are you doing?"

Jack speaks next—

"Uhh, re-booting the TARDIS."

"Yeah, okay, I get that." I say, "But do you have to be so loud whilst doing it?"

I turn to laugh lightly, facing Gwen. My face straightens, however, as I withhold the blank look on her features; clearly she has no idea as to what I am talking about.

"Uh, Addie?" Jack again, "I think you should get some rest."

"I'm fine." I mumble. Although, it's probably not comprehensible.

The sound is still there; that rattling, as though something is trying desperately to get out of a cage, rattling the door. It is now coming from the corridor up the stairs, it echoes through the empty halls, the sound rebounding from the walls. I begin to walk towards the stairs slowly. Gwen's voice is dull in my ear as she speaks—

"Where are you going?"

My voice is barely even a whisper as I reply—

"I'm going upstairs. Be back in a minute."

"What?"

I don't reply and so she calls for The Doctor, her eyes never leave my wandering form.

"Doctor? Something's up!"

I'm half way up the glass stairs when The Doctor calls for me—

"Everything alright?"

"I already said; I'm fine." I pause for a little while, "I'm going upstairs."

"You're sure that nothing's wrong?"

"Positive." I reply, "I'm just tired."

By the end of the sentence, I have rounded the corner. The Doctor's voice drifts through the ship but for some reason, I have no desire to actually listen and take in what is said, instead, I take several slow paces forward. The sound becomes louder, as though I am getting closer to the source. I become more and more frustrated the deeper I go into the ship; suddenly I don't seem to be getting any closer.

This isn't fair in any way.

Upon realising that I, in fact, am not going to find the source of the noise, my senses come back to me suddenly and I glance around quickly; trying to figure out my destination. I'm much further into the maze of hallways and odd room's than I think I have ever been. How long have I been walking? It only seems like a few minutes but in truth, I must have passed my room about half an hour back.

I spin on my heels, I can't remember the way back. That is more than frustrating.

"Take a left and then follow the right wall. That'll take you to your room. I assume you know the way back from there."

I jump as a new voice falls through the once empty air of the hall. I frown; that was my voice. I'm pretty sure that I haven't begun to talk to myself.

"Did you hear me, Adelaide?"

This is when I turn to see… me, standing there.

Yes. I am standing in front of me.

Does that even make sense?

I quickly pick out the things that are different. Her eyes, for example; they are a deeper green, more piercing. That and she is wearing something that I never would; a long violet dress with a corset is covered by a long, black velvet cloak. Her hair is down, her bangs pinned back, this only shows her eyes off in the dark all the more.

Shocked to the core, I gulp. My chin moves up and down but no words sound. She laughs lightly.

"Confused?"

I nod, unable to do much more.

"I can assure you; this is as strange for me as it is for you. Not every day you meet your double ganger." A playful smirk quirks the edge of her lips and her eyes sparkle slightly in the gloom, "Now," she nods over my shoulder; the way I have come, "Take a left there and follow the right hand wall."

The lights in the corridor suddenly flicker as the floor seems to fall from under me for a second; I fall to my knees as the ship jolts. Everything stays still for about three and a half seconds before the lights suddenly shine around me. Looks as though the power is back. I sit back up on my haunches and blink several times. The woman –me, as it were- is gone.

Or, so I thought.

A cloth is placed over my mouth and a muffled, shocked cry escapes my lips. My, very recognisable voice sounds in my ears—

"Hush now." Her lips brush my ears as she speaks quietly, "He'll find you here, he will, I'll make sure of that. Everything is going to be fine. Forgive me, dear."

I blink lazily a few more times before the lights disappear and I fall into the darkness.

**()()()()()()()()**

My head doesn't hurt as much as I thought it would when I come to in my room. I lay on top of the dark violet quilt, my shoes are placed neatly on the floor by the bottom of the bed and the lights are dimmed. So, The Doctor did find me, just as she had said.

Wait. She? Who am I talking about?

My head suddenly feels heavy and it loll slowly forward. My eyes begin to sting and I move a hand up to my face in order to rub the left eye as I sit up.

"You're awake."

I turn to see The Doctor standing in the doorway. I nod in answer to his question as he comes closer. He comes to sit on the end of my bed. He holds my face gently with his left hand and sonics near my eyes. After a moment he pulls back.

"No concussion, you're fine."

I smile slightly, "Good."

"What can you remember?" He asks gently, "I mean, I assume that you fell and hit your head but, is there something else. Something I'm missing?"

I think and I mean, I really think; trying to remember anything that had happened before waking up. Was there something? I feel as though there was; there is a gap in my memory that I just can't quite fill.

"Uhh, no. No, I don't think so." I say.

He nods and makes to get up but stops short and sits back down again before fishing into an inner breast pocket of his tweed jacket. He hands over a folded piece of paper.

"A note from Gwen."

"They're gone?"

He nods, "She wanted to get back to her family."

I shrug, "Fair."

He stands once again.

"I'll leave you to read it. After you're done, get some rest; you're tired still."

I yawn, proving his point before unfolding the paper as he leaves.

_Adelaide,_

_I'll be back home by the time you read this, I can't begin to tell you how much I have missed the family, but I do hope that I see you soon. There is something that I need to get out of you._

_I have no idea what you are hiding, and I know that it is not my place to be nosy in any way. I hope that you will see me as a friend and come and talk to me if you don't want to speak to The Doctor; there are some things that you just can't tell a nine hundred year old Timelord, right?_

I smile and yawn once more before continuing—

_I think I realise just how close to your heart traveling through time and space can be but I want you to know; if you ever need to leave, for any reason, my door is always open and Jack wouldn't have a problem with a new addition to the Torchwood team, he said so himself._

_It was great meeting you and I hope that your head doesn't hurt too much when you wake up._

_The Doctor has my number if you ever need to talk._

_Gwen x_

The last sentence was a hint, I know it. I also know that –and it pains me to realise this, but- I probably won't call her to tell her what I am keeping to myself.

Either way, her friendliness warms me and I smile before pulling the bedside cabinet drawer open and placing the letter neatly inside.

Laying my head back against the pillow, I fall asleep. Calm at last.

**So, 'Times Change' is now finished! And there are still some massive mysteries that have yet to be solved. This isn't the end of Addie Q's reign as a companion; I have so many other plot lines planned out. Would you continue to read them?**

**A large thank-you to all that have reviewed this story—**

**Kie1993, animemonkey13, Shadows in the moon, SarBrook, TheGirlWithTheOnyxRose, stargazer 0909 as wells as the odd anonymous reviewer. (Apologies if I have missed anyone)**

**Also, I'd like to thank those who reviewed the first draft of this story. I wonder, are you still reading?**

**Kie1993, Shadows in the moon, Flowerchild27 and MerlinDoctorTorchwood**

**Every single one of your reviews have meant a lot to me, they keep me writing and I'd love to hear what you thought on the whole fic.**

**The first chapter of the Christmas Special will be up the day before Christmas Eve.**

**Note: It doesn't have a title as of yet so, if you'd like to read it, it may be helpful to put me on alert.**

**Apologies for the massive AN, here. I'm going to go now. See you soon!**


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